The main purpose of the NASA OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is to display and deliver Bennu samples. This asteroid is rich in carbon and can contain organic materials or molecular precursors. In addition, an asteroid can once approach a dangerous distance to our planet. The device is expected to arrive at the facility in August 2018.
OSIRIS-REx has to figure out where we come from. Asteroids - the remnants of the formation of our system, hiding the secrets of our origin. The ship is on its way, but he manages to tell interesting details not only about where we are from, but where we are now.
Here is a composite image of the Earth and the Moon, acquired by the camera of the device on October 2, 2017. OSIRIS-REx is 5 million km distant (13 times the Earth-Moon distance). The moon had to be brightened to make it more visible in the frame.
