NASA launches first-ever mission to visit an asteroid

NASA plans to launch a mission to intercept an asteroid.

(Image credit: iStock)

On Thursday night, NASA space probe OSIRIS-REx departed from Cape Canaveral on its mission to collect a sample of the asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft is expected to reach the asteroid, located more than 100 million miles from Earth, by 2018 and take samples of the asteroid's dirt before returning to Earth in 2023.

If the mission, the first of its kind, goes as planned, the spacecraft will have collected the largest-ever asteroid sample, which astronomers hope could offer clues to how the solar system originated 4.5 million years ago. Scientists believe asteroids may be responsible for bringing water and other organic molecules to the planets, including Earth.

In case you missed it, watch last night's liftoff, below. Becca Stanek