In this image taken from video released by NASA, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft touches the surface of asteroid Bennu on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft crushed rocks and sent rubble flying as it briefly touched an asteroid, a strong indication that samples were collected for return to Earth, officials said Wednesday. Scientists won't know until next week how much was gathered at asteroid Bennu — they want at least a handful of the cosmic rubble. Japan has taken asteroid samples twice. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.

A NASA spacecraft is preparing to land on an asteroid Tuesday to collect a sample. Spacecraft OSIRIS-REX is descending toward an asteroid named Bennu to suck up rubble as a sample for closer study back on Earth. OSIRIS-REX descended Tuesday toward the surface of the asteroid, which is 200 million miles away. The spacecraft dropped out of orbit around asteroid Bennu right on time, beginning a 4 1/2-hour plunge to the rough, boulder-covered face of the ancient space rock. Bennu’s gravity was too low for the spacecraft to land — the asteroid is just 1,670 feet (510 meters) across.