The Asteroid Hunter is author Dante Lauretta’s autobiography that chronicles his life’s work and experience in hunting and tracking Bennu. A formidable asteroid as large as an aircraft carrier, and as tall as the Empire State Building.

The book offers a behind-the-scenes look at the scientific development, and exploration of the universe. In particular, how the earth came to be.

By sampling and studying asteroids with similar biological markers as earth, Lauretta and his team of scientists hope to discover earth’s origins, and determine if there could be other biologic lifeforms, or at least attempt to determine the origins of earth and its inhabitants.

There is a lot of scientific and technical language. But since I have a keen interest in STEM, I managed to glean a lot of information and the whole process intrigued me. And because most of the research is conducted in my home state of Arizona, I was even more fascinated.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though the research isn’t finalized yet. The samplings from the asteroid still has to make it back to earth for testing and further study. But for what has been written thus far, the book has exceeded my expectations. Five stars.

I received a DRC from Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

A look at Lauretta’s life and how he became the PI of the groundbreaking and record-setting OSIRIS-REx space mission - which flew to an asteroid, touched down, collected a sample, and returned that sample to Earth.

WOW. The premise of this book is right up my alley, but Lauretta’s execution was more than I could have hoped for. This book is the right amount of personal information and touching for a scientific memoir, balanced with history, politics, and science. It also includes absolutely thrilling scenes of tension waiting for critical mission actions. There is strength in community connection and the community of scientists and explorers, which Lauretta shares in and shows how these relationships add to the success of the mission. Overall, it was such a delight to spend time with Lauretta and here his story.

Dante Lauretta has a wonderfully relaxed writing style that takes the reader through both his career and the Osiris-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu. He deals, in a succinct manner, with how he got to NASA and became one of the principals proposing an asteroid sample return mission. The bulk of the book, like many years of his life, is the story of that mission. It includes all the steps and twists and turns that never make the news. It’s fascinating. Lauretta does an excellent job of clearly explaining the bits of science and engineering needed to get to the asteroid, grab the sample and bring it back to earth. He shares the excitement and the wonder of it all.

Thank you Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for access to this arc.

The title of the book refers not only to the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return mission but also to Dr. Dante Lauretta who shepherded the amazing feat into being. Though this is not the first successful trip to a space body which collected and then brought back samples to Earth (the Japanese Space Agency did it [twice] first), it’s fascinating to read about.

Dante Lauretta did not have the easiest of childhoods. Determination got him into college and on the road to getting his PhD, making professional connections and being the right person, at the right time, in the right place to begin working on a proposal for NASA – to land a spacecraft on an asteroid and scoop up a sample of pristine ancient solar system to be brought back to Earth.

A world wide group of dedicated STEM people get to work, dive into the problems, solve the problems, test more stuff, solve those problems, and finally after years of work, have a spacecraft ready to be rocketed into space.

Nails are bitten, heart attacks averted, and sighs of relief are heaved as asteroid Bennu serves up some surprises and many of the team go into overdrive to find that perfect spot for it to touch-grab a sample-and-go. Then comes Covid. Even though I knew the outcome, I was holding my breath reading about the final moments of suspense the team endured as the spacecraft (yes!) made the final calculations and decision to land.

I’m not sure when the final draft of the book was turned in and if the epilogue will be included in the finished book. I’ve watched a few youtube videos and know that the mission far exceeded their promise to NASA to bring back 2 ounces of asteroid (if you have a kitchen scale, go measure how little that actually is). Along with that Holy Grail, tons of new information has been gathered that will probably be the basis of many future PhDs. I salute the thousands of people worldwide who labored for years to make this happen and who unlocked some of the secrets of life’s origins in the solar system. B

Asteroid Bennu threatens to collide with Earth in 2182. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx team has embarked on a mission to collect vital samples from Bennu’s surface. These samples may hold secrets of life’s beginnings and the key to preventing a catastrophic event. This book offers an intimate account of the mission’s journey.

This account is fascinating and easy-to-read. It’s a compelling story of science, politics, and human connections.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

As a fan of space exploration I read about the groundbreaking project to land on an asteroid and collect samples. Considering the very real threat of such a body hitting Earth and repeating what happened to the dinosaurs, it seems like one of the most important endeavors that is possible to undertake. This book was written by the person who dreamed, coordinated and ultimately executed such a huge accomplishment. Anyone who follows the news knows what happened but, going in blind, it would be very suspenseful. For informed readers it is fascinating to learn first hand how Osiris-REx was created and became successful where others had failed. From the beginning of Lauretta’s career, to the people who helped make this happen, this candid memoir doesn’t shy away from the mistakes, miscalculations, conflicts and doubts that plagued the project. The author has such a straightforward style, that I felt like I was part of his team. The little spaceship is now on its way to a new destination, the terrifically and terrifyingly named Apophis, and I hope there will be more books by Lauretta explaining everything that Bennu has and will teach us.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Grand Central Publishing.

I understand about 70% of this book! That says more about Dante Lauretta than me, however. The Asteroid Hunter is part memoir, part science, part thriller, and all great.

There is a very small overlap between my love of history and science. I like to learn the science just enough to understand what is going on and then I want to read about everything else. Lauretta writes the story of his mission OSIRIS-REx in a way that anyone could enjoy it. They are landing on an asteroid. That should be cool no matter who is reading.

Lauretta keeps this book moving at a brisk place so that the reader never gets the chance to be bored. What I especially appreciated is that while the narrative revolves around Lauretta as the center of the story, I never felt like Lauretta thought he was the story. The mission is what we are here for and that's the way he tells the story and it's a riveting one.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing.)

Now that #OSIRISREx has returned its samples from #Bennu to Earth, we can’t wait to finish reading The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of our Solar System by Dante Lauretta. We’ve been reading the advance copy from #netgalley…which is great, but is missing the final chapters! We’re looking forward to reading Dr. Lauretta’s book, to be published in April 2024. We’re glad that the mission has provided him with a happy ending!