OSIRIS-REx Begins Journey Home With Significant Asteroid Sample Scientists are now one step closer to learning more about how our solar system formed – and, potentially, the origins of life. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which was designed, built and flown by Lockheed Martin for NASA, departed asteroid Bennu and is headed back to Earth with a pristine asteroid sample. After a two-year, 1.4-billion-mile return cruise that includes two revolutions around the sun, OSIRIS-REx will catch up with Earth in its orbit in 2023 and jettison its sample return capsule. This protective capsule contains what is estimated to be well over the required 60 grams of regolith needed for scientific study, or roughly the size of a candy bar.