Asteroids
Engineers Design a Robot That Can Stick To, Crawl Along, and Sail Around Rubble Pile Asteroids
Asteroids come in many shapes and sizes. Most are spherical, though many have a feature that can make them difficult…
DART Impact Ejected 37 Giant Boulders from Asteroid Dimorphos’ Surface
When the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft intentionally slammed into asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on September 26, 2022, telescopes around…
If You’re Going to Visit Venus, Why Not Include an Asteroid Flyby Too?
A recent study submitted to Acta Astronautica examines the prospect of designing a Venus mission flight plan that would involve…
Want to be an asteroid miner? There’s a database for that.
Asteroid mining is slowly but surely coming closer to reality. Many start-ups and governmental agencies alike are getting in on…
Astronomers Prepare for the Next Thousand Years of Hazardous Asteroid Impacts
It is as inevitable as the rising of the Sun and the turning of the tides. Someday another large rock…
Astronomers Want Your Help to Identify Risky Asteroids
You, too, can be an asteroid hunter --- thanks to a citizen-science project launched by the University of Arizona's Lunar…
Is This Nearby Asteroid a Chunk of the Moon?
The Moon dominates our view of the night sky. But it's not the only thing orbiting Earth. A small number…
Here's How NASA is Planning to Protect Earth From Asteroids and Comets
The large impact craters dotting our planet are powerful reminders that asteroids and comets strike the Earth from time to…
Another Look at the Aftermath of DART's Impact Into Dimorphos
When the DART spacecraft slammed into asteroid Dimorphos on September 26, 2022, telescopes worldwide (and in space) were watching as…
Don’t Panic Over the Risk of an Asteroid Smashup in 2046
A newly discovered asteroid called 2023 DW has generated quite a buzz over the past week, due to an estimated…