Asteroids
OSIRIS-REx Will Collect a Sample from Bennu on October 20th
The date is finally set for OSIRIS-REx's sampling maneuver. The spacecraft has been at asteroid Bennu since the end of…
The Tunguska Explosion Could Have Been Caused By An Asteroid That Still Orbits The Sun
On a cool Summer morning in 1908, a fireball appeared over Northern Siberia. Eyewitnesses described a column of blue light…
OSIRIS-REx Descended Down to Just 75 Meters Above the Surface of Bennu in a Recent Test
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is getting ready for its big moment. OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is…
These are the Boulders OSIRIS-REx is Going to Use to Navigate Down to the Surface of Bennu
Meet OSIRIS-REx's "Guide Boulders." When the NASA spacecraft first arrived at asteroid Bennu over a year ago, the surface of…
Asteroid Bennu is Getting Some Official Names for its Surface Features
Late last summer, NASA and the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (a.k.a WGPSN) approved the naming…
OSIRIS-REx did its Closest Flyover Yet, just 250 Meters Above its Sample Site
NASA's OSIRIS-REx is getting closer, physically and temporally, to its primary goal. The spacecraft arrived at Bennu at the end…
Even Though it Was Observing an Asteroid, OSIRIS-REx Accidentally Spotted a Black Hole
While the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was orbiting asteroid Bennu, one of the instruments on board happened to catch a glimpse of…
Astronomers Discover a Tiny New Temporary Moon for the Earth. Welcome to the Family 2020 CD3
Astronomers are increasingly interested in Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs. There are ongoing efforts to find them all and catalog them…
New Images of the “Golf Ball” Asteroid Pallas
New images of the asteroid Pallas (the clearest and most detailed to date) reveal that it looks like a "golf…
OSIRIS-REx Flew 620 Meters Above its Landing Site. Confirms that it’s a Boulder-Strewn Nightmare, Just Like the Rest of Bennu
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reached its target, asteroid Bennu (101955 Bennu), on December 3rd, 2018. Since then, the spacecraft has been…