NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft is asteroid Bennu’s first visitor in billions of years

Carbon-rich asteroid Bennu, which could hold evidence dating back to the beginning of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago, is an astronomical time capsule. After a two-year chase, a NASA spacecraft arrived on December 3 at the ancient asteroid Bennu, its first visitor in billions of years. The robotic explorer Osiris-Rex pulled within 19…

NASA’s InSight spacecraft lands on red planet after six-month journey

NASA last landed on Mars in 2012 with the Curiosity rover. A NASA spacecraft designed to burrow beneath the surface of Mars landed on the red planet Monday after a six-month, 300 million-mile (482 million-kilometre) journey and a perilous, six-minute descent through the rose-hued atmosphere. Flight controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California,…