Before it begins the long trek home NASA will send OSIRIS-REx past the area where it stirred up the asteroid’s surface.

Asteroids are fossils of our solar systemA NASA composite image of all the planets photographed by spacecraft or observatories. According to NASA, our solar system is made up of the Sun, eight planets, 146 moons, comets, asteroids and space rocks, ice and dwarf planets, including Pluto. The thought behind asteroid mining is that once off-planet fueling stations could be set up using asteroids for deep space exploration. Central Florida is home to leading asteroid experts at the University of Central Florida and Florida Space Institute. Bonus fact: Eight planetary scientists at UCF and the Florida Space Institute have asteroids named after them to recognize their work in planetary science research.