NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission marks the first time Canada is participating in an asteroid sample return. OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu, an asteroid that has the potential to impact the Earth in the late 2100s. As part of this mission, Canada is contributing the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) instrument, a lidar system able to scan the asteroid from up to 7 km away. This altimeter has produced high-resolution topographic maps of four locations on asteroid Bennu that mission scientists have identified as candidates for sample collection.
Data collected during this mission are available through the Planetary Data System.
