Why is NASA chasing this asteroid?

NASA's hunting down an asteroid. Why you ask? Well the simple answer is that the asteroid which was discovered in 1999 and is called 101955 Bennu could maybe actually strike earth.

It's a part of a collection of asteroids called the apollo group and is bigger than 1,600 feet.

What makes Bennu so interesting is that there are several occasions in which scientists think it could hit. But that's many moons down the line. Nasa is more interested in getting a sample of the asteroid and bringing it back to Earth.

So NASA is sending its craft which is called OSIRIS-REx space probe to check on Bennu.

It's going to take two years to catch up with the asteroid but then the space probe is going to make contact with it -- not technically landing on it where the main part of the mission is then to get that sample of the dark and potentially dangerous asteroid.

The spacecraft heads home in 2021 not arriving back to earth before 2023.

And the spacecraft won't land, but will fly over Utah and drop off the capsule holding the asteroid sample.

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