THE FINAL FRONTIER — NASA's OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft will fly by Earth on Friday as part of its mission to investigate the Bennu asteroid.
According to the space agency, OSIRIS-Rex will slingshot around Earth, and in doing so, use the planet's orbit to get a 8,500 mile per hour speed boost to help it on its journey to Bennu.
The Bennu asteroid was discovered in 1999. Its 500m height is taller than Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world.
NASA believes investigation of it may lead to a deeper understanding of some of the universe's most fundamental questions.
