Visit to 'Armageddon Asteroid' Could Save Future Earth from Impact

The target of the OSIRIS-REx mission is an asteroid known as Bennu, which circles the sun just inside the orbit of Mars (occasionally crossing Earth's orbital path). Although Bennu is unlikely to collide with the planet, understanding its composition could help scientists figure out how to deflect other rocky bodies that may be on a crash course with Earth. "I think that's the whole reason we have missions like OSIRIS-REx — to go out and see what we really know about asteroids," Lindley Jo