Humans Poked an Asteroid. Next Century, the Asteroid Might Poke Back

Back in 2016, humanity launched into the void a spacecraft called OSIRIS-Rex. The moniker stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, words which were supposed to explain the goal of the mission. Since they don’t, here it is in words we can all understand: a spacecraft tasked with taking a piece of an asteroid and bringing it back to Earth.