Bennu asteroid from OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. This view of asteroid 101955 Bennu was created using eight images obtained by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on 29 October 2018, from a distance of about 330 kilometres. Bennu is oriented with its north pole at top. The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft's mission is to obtain samples in 2018 for return to Earth in 2023. This mission, part of the NASA New Frontiers programme, is being carried out by NASA and the University of Arizona. The spacecraft launched on 8 September 2016, arriving at the asteroid in December 2018. Its instruments include the OCAMS cameras, the OVIRS visible and infrared spectrometer, the OTES thermal emission spectrometer, the OLA laser altimeter, the REXIS X-ray spectrometer, and the TAGSAM sample return system.