Like Boot Prints on the Moon, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Left Its Mark on Asteroid Bennu
Like boot prints on the Moon, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft left its mark on asteroid Bennu. Now, new images — taken during the spacecraft’s final fly-over…
Asteroid
Planetary Defense Conference: NASA to Participate in Exercise Simulating Asteroid Impact
During the week of April 26, members of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) will participate in a “tabletop exercise” to simulate an asteroid impact scenario. The…
How Do We Know if an Asteroid Headed Our Way Is a Dangerous Threat?
There are a lot of things that pose a threat to our planet – climate change, natural disasters, and solar flares, for example. But one…
Using a Nuclear Blast to Deflect an Asteroid: Different Neutron Energies Enhance Asteroid Deflection
A research collaboration between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) investigates how the neutron energy output from a…
NASA OSIRIS-REx’s Final Observation Run of Asteroid Bennu Before Returning to Earth
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is on the brink of discovering the extent of the mess it made on asteroid Bennu’s surface during last fall’s sample collection…
NASA’s Metal Mission: Final Assembly of Psyche Spacecraft Begins – Destined to Explore a Metal-Rich Asteroid
Set to launch next year, the agency’s Psyche spacecraft will explore a metal-rich asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. A major…
Feared Apophis Impact Ruled Out – Asteroid Will Pass Close Enough to Earth to See With Naked Eye
New observations of asteroid Apophis – thought to pose a slight risk of impacting Earth in 2068 – rule out any chance of impact for…
NASA Analysis: Earth Is Safe From Asteroid Apophis Impact for at Least 100 Years
The near-Earth object was thought to pose a slight risk of impacting Earth in 2068, but now radar observations have ruled that out. After its…
NASA’s Planetary Defense: “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” Predicted to Safely Pass by Earth on March 21
The interplanetary interloper won’t come closer than 1.25 million miles to Earth, but it will present a valuable scientific opportunity for astronomers. The largest asteroid…
The Fascinating Story of How the Trojan Asteroids – Target of NASA’s Lucy Mission – Were Discovered and Named
On February 22, 1906, German astrophotographer Max Wolf helped reshape our understanding of the solar system. Again. Born in 1863, Wolf had a habit of…
Researchers Say They’ve Solved the Puzzling Mystery of the Moons of Mars
Phobos and Deimos are the remains of a larger Martian moon that was disrupted between 1 and 2.7 billion years ago, say researchers from the…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Final Flyby of Asteroid Bennu Before 2 Year Journey Back to Earth
On April 7, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will give asteroid Bennu one last glance before saying farewell. Before departing for Earth on May 10, the OSIRIS-REx…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Plans for May Asteroid Departure to Return Bennu Sample to Earth
On May 10, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will say farewell to asteroid Bennu and begin its journey back…
Tiny Craters on Bennu Boulders Reveal Asteroid’s Age
Scientists inferred Bennu’s sojourn in the inner Solar System at 1.75 million years. Last year NASA snagged a sample from the surface of asteroid Bennu,…
How Did Asteroid Ryugu Lose Its Water? Remote Sensing Data Provides an Explanation
Rocks on Ryugu, a “rubble pile” near-Earth asteroid recently visited by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft, appear to have lost much of their water before they came…
Next Target Asteroid for Hayabusa2 Photographed by Subaru Telescope
On December 10, 2020 (Hawaiʻi Standard Time), the Subaru Telescope imaged the small asteroid 1998 KY26, the target of Hayabusa2’s extended mission. The positional data…
World’s First Gas Sample From Deep Space Returned With Asteroid Ryugu Material From Hayabusa2
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that the gas collected from the sample container inside the re-entry capsule of the asteroid explorer, Hayabusa2,…
Arches of Chaos: New Superhighway Network Discovered to Travel Through the Solar System Much Faster
Researchers have discovered a new superhighway network to travel through the Solar System much faster than was previously possible. Such routes can drive comets and…