Smithsonian to open first public display of Bennu asteroid November 3

BALTIMORE -- The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History will open the first public display of the Bennu asteroid sample on November 3.

The carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid was collected by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission

Samples from Bennu may reveal how water and organic molecules first reached Earth. 

"Bennu's rocks are thought to date to the formation of the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. Early telescope observations of Bennu suggested that, unlike most asteroids, it is carbon-rich and likely contains organic molecules similar to those that sparked life on an embryonic Earth." the Smithsonian said.   

Museum goers can expect to view the sample in the museum's Janel Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals meteorite gallery. 

The gallery will also include models of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that discovered Bennu. Videos, animations, and images from the mission will also be on display with space experts who can provide more information on Bennu and the OSIRIS-REx mission. 

"The OSIRIS-REx mission is an incredible scientific achievement that promises to shed light on what makes our planet unique," Kirk Johnson, the Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, said. 

 OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S space mission to sample a surface of a planetary body since Apollo 17 in 1972.