Fragments of an asteroid that exploded over Germany on Jan. 21 and were recovered five days later have been confirmed to be a rare space rock type that could help shed light on Earth’s origins. As Space.com initially reported on Feb. 1, scientists suspected that the strange appearance of the […]
asteroid
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Scientists are now inspecting snagged, bagged and tagged bits and pieces from asteroid Bennu, the cosmic mother lode delivered by NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security — Regolith Explorer mission. Known in acronymic astro-speak as OSIRIS-REx, that seven-year-long voyage brought home the goods via a sample return canister […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday. Don’t worry: There’s no chance of it hitting us since it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon. NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — NASA is hosting a workshop later this month to learn about options for low-cost missions to an asteroid that will make a close approach to the Earth in 2029, a move that has confused some scientists who believe a shelved smallsat mission can meet NASA’s needs. The […]
A ‘hazardous’ asteroid the size of a football is on course for a close shave with the Earth, a UK scientist has said. The object, Asteroid 2008 OS7, which measures roughly 900 metres in diameter, will pass by our planet on Friday afternoon – although there’s no risk of a […]
NASA’s asteroid-hopping Lucy mission is finally getting fired up in space for its trip to the never-before-explored Trojan asteroids, which follow Jupiter as it orbits the sun. On Wednesday (Jan. 31), the Lucy spacecraft will fire its main engines off-Earth for the first time since its launch in Aug. 2021. […]
A detailed investigation of asteroid Ryugu samples has provided further evidence that the organic molecules which gave rise to life to our planet were brought here by ancient comets. These space rock samples were returned to Earth by Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission, which visited the spinning-top-like space rock Ryugu in 2018. […]
An asteroid discovered earlier this month will reach its closest point to Earth on Saturday (Jan. 27), when it will soar through the sky at a distance closer to us than the moon. Astronomers first detected the up to 121-foot-wide (37 meters) asteroid, dubbed 2024 BJ, on Jan. 17. They documented their discovery the […]