A NASA spacecraft that took a sample from an asteroid 200 million miles (321 million kilometres) away now has a plan to come back home.
On May 10, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will leave the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and begin a nearly three-year journey back to Earth, NASA officials announced this week.
The spacecraft, formally known as the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, is carrying a hefty sample it collected from the asteroid's surface in October. The goal of the mission was to collect 60 grams or 2 ounces of material -- and even though the scientists won't know for sure until they open it, it appears the collection event exceeded this goal. Regolith is a layer of dust and broken rocks on the surface of asteroids and planets.