101955 Bennu

A sample from the asteroid Bennu, which could be key to understanding the formation of the solar system and our own planet, is set to be analyzed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston after it reaches Earth in late September.

An asteroid known as Bennu will pass within half the distance of the Earth to the Moon in the year 2135 but the probability of an impact with our planet in the coming centuries is very slight, scientists said on Aug. 11.

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With rubble from an asteroid tucked inside, a NASA spacecraft fired its engines and began the long journey back to Earth on May 10, leaving the ancient space rock in its rearview mirror.

The trip home for the robotic prospector, Osiris-Rex, will take two years.

The 101955 Bennu asteroid was captured by the OSIRIS-REX spacecraft. The big asteroid will approach the Earth on Tuesday, according to the NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), quoted by RIA Novosti and BGNES.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed on asteroid Bennu last week, and already it's found water on the minor planet, reported Geek.com

Early data from the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission revealed water locked inside Bennu.

Two years after launching from Florida, a NASA spacecraft is closing in on an ancient asteroid, Bennu, for a sample of space dust that could reveal clues to the start of life in the solar system.

The spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, has even snapped its first, blurry pic of the cosmic body, which is about the size of a small mountain, about 500 yards (meters) in diameter.