"osiris-rex"

NASA displayed the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample on Wednesday, marking the first time it has been showcased since landing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston

During its October 20, 2020, sample collection event, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, collected a substantial amount of material

The probe is thought to have collected some 400 grams (14 ounces) of fragments, far more than the minimum of 60 grams needed.

In reviewing these images, the OSIRIS-REx team noticed both that the head appeared to be full of asteroid particles, and that some of these particles appeared to be escaping slowly from the sample collector.

"We're looking for our own origins out there, and that's why we've gone so far to bring a bit of Bennu back."