--- title: NASA Launches Asteroid Mission to Return Soil Sample: Watch description: NASA is launching the first U.S. mission Thursday to collect a sample from an asteroid and return it to Earth for scientific study canonical: https://time.com/4483844/nasa-launch-asteroid-mission/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-08T18:23:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:28:19.365Z article:section: Science og:title: Watch Live: NASA Launches Mission to Explore Nearby Asteroid og:description: This is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid og:url: https://time.com/4483844/nasa-launch-asteroid-mission/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Live: NASA Launches Mission to Explore Nearby Asteroid twitter:description: This is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Live: NASA Launches Mission to Explore Nearby Asteroid  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 8, 2016 6:23 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 8, 2016 6:23 PM UTC [NASA](http://nasa.gov) is launching the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an [asteroid](http://time.com/4313966/asteroid-science-comet/) and return it to Earth for scientific study. The [mission](http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/osiris%5Frex%5Ffactsheet5-9.pdf)—known as OSIRIS-REx—will launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. at 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday and reach the asteroid Bennu in August 2018\. The spacecraft will survey the asteroid looking for potential sites to collect a sample before touching the surface for just 5 seconds to pick up dirt and rocks. The sample is expected to return in September 2023. The mission will provide new insight into asteroids and allow scientists a better understanding of the substances that comprise the surface. Asteroids like Bennu contain a wide variety of natural resources including water and metal. Scientists hope the research will contribute to human understanding of the early solar system. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4483844/nasa-launch-asteroid-mission/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4483844/nasa-launch-asteroid-mission/"},"headline":"Watch Live: NASA Launches Mission to Explore Nearby Asteroid","datePublished":"2016-09-08T18:23:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:28:19.365Z","description":"This is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid","url":"https://time.com/4483844/nasa-launch-asteroid-mission/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4483844/nasa-launch-asteroid-mission/","name":"Watch Live: NASA Launches Mission to Explore Nearby Asteroid"}}]}] ```