Write the Importance of OSIRIS-Rex Project.

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About OSIRIS-REx:

OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) asteroid-study and sample-return mission.
The mission was launched in September, 2016. The spacecraft reached asteroid Bennu in 2018.
Objective: To obtain a sample of at least 60 gm from Bennu and return the sample to Earth for a detailed analysis.
In October 2020, the spacecraft contacted the surface of the asteroid successfully and fired a burst of nitrogen gas meant to stir rocks and soil.
Once the surface was disturbed, the spacecraft’s robotic arm captured some samples.
NASA had also confirmed that shortly after the spacecraft made contact with the surface, it fired its thrusters and “safely backed away from Bennu”.

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun.
Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. They are also known as planetoids or minor planets.
There are millions of asteroids, ranging in size from hundreds of kms to several feet across.
In total, the mass of all the asteroids is less than that of Earth’s moon.

Asteroid belt is the region between Mars and Jupiter.
This region contains the majority of known asteroids and is estimated to have 1 to 2 million asteroids larger than 1 km in diameter and millions of smaller ones.

Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) circle closer to Earth than the Sun.
About 10,000 NEAs have been discovered to date. And over 1,400 have been classified as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids or PHAs.
Astronomers employ the Torino Scale for categorizing the impact hazard associated with PHAs.

Asteroids share an orbit with a larger planet.
The Trojan Asteroids do not collide with the parent planet because they are located in places known as Lagrange points where the gravitational pull of the Sun and the planet are balanced.
Jupiter has the largest number of Trojan asteroids discovered to date.
Neptune, Mars and Earth also have Trojan asteroids.

Bennu is a B-type Near-Earth Asteroid.
B-type asteroids are a relatively uncommon type of carbonaceous asteroid.
Because of its high carbon content, the asteroid reflects about four per cent of the light that hits it, which is very low.
Earth reflects about 30 per cent of the light.
There is a slight possibility that Bennu might strike the Earth in the next century, between the years 2175 and 2199.

Bennu is a “time capsule” from the birth of the Solar System.
Scientists believe that it is 4.5 billion years old.
It hasn’t undergone drastic changes since its formation and, therefore, it contains chemicals and rocks dating back to the birth of the Solar System.
In particular, Bennu was selected because of the availability of pristine carbonaceous material, a key element in organic molecules necessary for life.

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