Space probe Osiris-Rex makes closest ever orbit of smallest ever object
Nasa sampling mission skims a mile above tiny asteroid Bennu where it will try to land and collect samples
The Nasa spacecraft Osiris-Rex has gone into orbit around an ancient asteroid, setting a pair of records.
Osiris-Rex spacecraft entered orbit on Monday around Bennu, 70m miles (110m kilometres) from Earth. It is the smallest celestial body ever to be orbited by a spacecraft, at just 500 metres across (1,600ft).
The spacecraft is orbiting barely a mile above the asteroids surface, another record.
Osiris-Rex arrived at Bennu in early December and flew in formation with it until the latest manoeuvre. The goal is to descend to the surface and collect samples of regolith loose rock and dust for return to Earth in 2023.
The New Years Eve milestone occurred a few hours before another Nasa explorer, New Horizons, was due to fly past the icy asteroid Ultima Thule out beyond Pluto.
Associated Press contributed to this report
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/01/space-probe-osiris-rex-makes-closest-ever-orbit-around-smallest-object