But it will still be two years until that sample is returned to terra firma.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx deployed a robotic arm during its short time on Bennu after landing at the site called Nightingale. The landing site is the size of a couple of parking spaces.
OSIRIS-REx stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, The New York Times reported.
Preliminary data show that today's sample collection event went as planned 👍 More details to come once all the data from the event are downlinked to Earth. Thanks, everybody, for following along as we journey #ToBennuAndBack!
"Sample collection is complete." "All right! We're on our way back!" After a TAG (Touch-And-Go) maneuver to capture a sample, our @OSIRISREx spacecraft fired its thrusters to back away from asteroid Bennu’s surface and navigate to a safe distance away. #ToBennuAndBackpic.twitter.com/skJPKlFRR3
Bennu itself is more than 200 million miles from Earth, the size of the Empire State Building and is covered with boulders the size of buildings.
The sample, which could be between 2 ounces and 2 kilograms, was collected before OSIRIS-REx took off again to eventually return to Earth in 2023.
The mission leaders, though, still have some more work to do.
“Even though we have some work ahead of us to determine the outcome of the event -- the successful contact, the TAGSAM gas firing, and back-away from Bennu are major accomplishments for the team. I look forward to analyzing the data to determine the mass of sample collected,” Dante Lauretta said in a statement, according to CNN. Lauretta is the principal investigator for the mission and is a professor at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
The sample could tell scientists how planets formed and life began, CNN reported. It is made up of carbon-rich materials that have some scientists believing that asteroids like Bennu may have planted the seeds of life on Earth, the Times reported.
The spacecraft launched in September 2016, and it finally reached Bennu in December 2018, the Times reported. Over the past two years, the spacecraft has been observing Bennu and how it behaved.
OSIRIS-REx A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft lifts off from launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Osiris-Rex will travel to asteroid Bennu, collect ground samples, then haul them back to Earth. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP) (NASA/Joel Kowsky/AP)
OSIRIS-REx FILE - This file illustration provided by NASA depicts the Osiris-Rex spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu. The Osiris-Rex spacecraft entered orbit Monday, Dec. 31, 2018, around the asteroid Bennu, 70 million miles (110 million kilometers) from Earth. It’s the smallest celestial body ever to be orbited by a spacecraft. Bennu is just 1,600 feet (500 meters) across. (Conceptual Image Lab/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA via AP, File) (AP)
OSIRIS-REx Esta combinación de fotos del 2 de diciembre del 2018 proveída por la NASA muestra un peñasco en la superficie del asteroide Bennu, capturada por la sonda Osiris-Rex (NASA/Goddard/Universitdad de Arizona vía AP) (AP)
OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Bennu, taken with Teledyne CCD image sensors, is shown in the photo. Image credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
OSIRIS-REx This undated image made available by NASA shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's primary sample collection site, named "Nightingale," on the asteroid Bennu. An outline of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is placed at center to illustrate the scale of the site. After almost two years circling the ancient asteroid, OSIRIS-REx will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a handful of rubble on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona via AP) (AP)
OSIRIS-REx This illustration provided by NASA depicts the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and the Earth. On Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, the probe will use Earth's gravity to put it on a path toward the asteroid Bennu. (Conceptual Image Lab/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA via AP) (AP)
OSIRIS-REx The sample site, named “Nightingale”, is pictured in the photo. The image of the Nightingale site is overlaid with a graphic of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to illustrate the targeted touchdown site which is ringed by dangerous obstacles. The imagery was taken with Teledyne CCD image sensors. Image credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
OSIRIS-REx Three-dimensional view of asteroid Bennu created from 20 million lidar measurements. The lidar system obtained these measurements by firing laser pulses at Bennu and measuring the amount of time it takes for the light to bounce off the asteroid’s surface and return to the instrument. The time delay is translated into altitude data. The colors represent the distance from the center of Bennu: dark blue areas lie approximately 60 meters below the peaks indicated in red. Image credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
OSIRIS-REx This image captured on Dec. 19, 2018, by a camera on the Osiris-Rex spacecraft shows the asteroid Bennu, top right, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) from the spacecraft, and the Earth and moon, bottom left, more than 70 million miles (110 million kilometers) away. Bennu, just 1,600 feet (500 meters) across, is the smallest celestial body ever to be orbited by a spacecraft. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin Space via AP) (AP)
OSIRIS-REx FILE - This artist's rendering made available by NASA in July 2016 shows the mapping of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Scientists had thought the asteroid Bennu had wide, open areas to scoop up dirt and gravel. But on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, NASA announced the probe hasn’t found any big spots for sampling. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona via AP) (AP)
OSIRIS-REx This Aug. 11, 2020 photo shows the sampling arm of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during a rehearsal for an approach to the "Nightingale" sample site on the surface of the asteroid Bennu. After almost two years circling the ancient asteroid, OSIRIS-REx will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a handful of rubble on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona via AP) (AP)