Asteroids
Completely Harmless Asteroid Almost Certainly Won’t Hit Earth Just Before the US Election
In a year of devastating wildfires, destructive derechos, early and active hurricanes, widespread social unrest, contentious politics and more --…
Ancient Meteorites Can be Found Embedded in Rocks, Like Fossils
Comets visit the inner Solar System, and leave without saying goodbye. Maybe they leave a trail of dust behind, and…
800 Million Years Ago, it Was Raining Asteroids on the Earth and Moon
Natural processes here on Earth continually re-shape the planet's surface. Craters from ancient asteroid strikes are erased in a short…
Organic Matter Could Have Delivered Earth’s Water
The origin of Earth's water is a big piece of the puzzle in Earth's history. Did it come from comets…
That’s So Metal. NASA’s Psyche Mission is Now Under Construction
In August of 2022, NASA will send a robotic spacecraft to the Main Asteroid Belt to explore a truly unique…
Rocks on Bennu are Cracking Because of the Constant Day/Night Cycling
Asteroid Bennu is blanketed by rocks and huge boulders. And now that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is taking a close look…
Astronomers Finally Think They Understand Where Interstellar Object Oumuamua Came From and How it Formed
'Oumuamua caused quite a stir when it visited our Solar System in 2017. It didn't stay long, however, and when…
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…
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…