NASA’s asteroid sample mission gave scientists around the world the rare opportunity to study an artificial meteor

Collecting the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule. NASA/Keegan Barber, CC BY

Earth is constantly bombarded by fragments of rock and ice, also known as meteoroids, from outer space. Most of the meteoroids are as tiny as grains of sand and small pebbles, and they completely burn up high in the atmosphere. You can see meteoroids larger than about a golf ball when they light up as meteors or shooting stars on a dark, clear night.

While very small meteoroids are common, larger ones – bigger than a dishwasher – are not.