The Hayabusa & Osiris-Rex

The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft was launched by JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) in 2014 on a quest to study the asteroid Ryugu and deliver rocks and soil from its surface to Earth. The first Hayabusa spacecraft was launched in 2003 and reached the asteroid Itokawa in 2005.

 

An American asteroid sample return mission, Osiris-Rex, will rendezvous with the asteroid 101955 Bennu in August.

 

BBC;