{"dataset":{"slug":"returned-samples","title":"Returned Samples","description":"Material returned to Earth from asteroids and comets — Itokawa, Ryugu, Bennu, and Wild 2.","version":"1.0.0","lastGenerated":"2026-06-29","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","entityCount":4,"sources":["nasa","jaxa"]},"entities":[{"id":"returned_sample:bennu-sample","name":"Bennu Sample (OSIRIS-REx)","type":"returned_sample","domain":"science","description":"121.6 grams of dust and rock from the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu, returned by OSIRIS-REx in 2023 — the largest asteroid sample yet returned. Early analysis shows abundant carbon and water-bearing clay minerals.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/sample/bennu-sample"},{"id":"returned_sample:itokawa-sample","name":"Itokawa Sample (Hayabusa)","type":"returned_sample","domain":"science","description":"More than 1,500 microscopic grains from the S-type asteroid 25143 Itokawa, returned by Hayabusa in 2010 — the first sample ever returned from an asteroid. The grains tied ordinary (LL) chondrite meteorites to S-type asteroids and showed signs of space weathering.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/sample/itokawa-sample"},{"id":"returned_sample:ryugu-sample","name":"Ryugu Sample (Hayabusa2)","type":"returned_sample","domain":"science","description":"5.4 grams of surface and subsurface material from the carbonaceous asteroid 162173 Ryugu, returned by Hayabusa2 in 2020. The pristine, water- and organic-bearing grains contain amino acids and predate the Solar System's planets.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/sample/ryugu-sample"},{"id":"returned_sample:wild-2-sample","name":"Wild 2 Sample (Stardust)","type":"returned_sample","domain":"science","description":"Thousands of cometary dust particles captured in aerogel as Stardust flew through the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2, returned in 2006 — the first cometary material and the first sample from beyond the Moon. The grains revealed high-temperature minerals and the amino acid glycine.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/sample/wild-2-sample"}]}