NASA’s asteroid sampling mission is on course for landing this weekend

Enlarge / Scientists created this mosaic of asteroid Bennu using imagery collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. The asteroid spans about 1,600 feet (500 meters) across.

A NASA spacecraft will complete a round-trip journey to an asteroid this weekend, returning to Earth after a seven-year voyage to bring back unspoiled rock specimens from an alien world that could yield insights into the formation of life.

The landing Sunday at 8:55 am local time in Utah (10:55 am EDT or 14:55 UTC) will wrap up a round-trip journey of 4.4 billion miles (7.1 billion kilometers) for NASA’s robotic OSIRIS-REx mission. The return

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