A Tucson-born spacecraft began its 1.4-billion-mile journey home on Monday. OSIRIS-REx is expected back from the asteroid Bennu in 2023.

Every six years, an asteroid by the name of Bennu passes by Earth. Bennu is a small, loosely compacted ball of black rocks that formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned samples from asteroid Bennu, which showed discoveries about life and the early solar system. These findings can now provide information into the potential ...

Astronomers estimate that Bennu has a 1 in 2,700 chance of affecting Earth in September 2182, which equates to a 0.037% chance.

A study detailing the outcomes published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. Medium-size asteroids such as Bennu collide with Earth about every 100,000 to 200,000 years, according to the study.

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu has a slim chance of colliding with Earth in 2182. If it does, the impact could trigger a global winter that affects our planet for years.

A study detailing the outcomes published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. Medium-size asteroids such as Bennu collide with Earth about every 100,000 to 200,000 years, according to the study.

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu has a slim chance of colliding with Earth in 2182. If it does, the impact could trigger a global winter that affects our planet for years.

A chain of global consequences The researchers used climate models and the aid of the Aleph supercomputer at ICCP to run different scenarios for a Bennu-type collision with Earth, largely focusing on ...