Asteroids

Comets
Asteroids
The Solar System
These celestial objects look like asteroids but act like comets now come in two flavors. The first dark comet — a celestial object that looks like an asteroid but moves through space like a comet — was reported less than two years ago. Soon after, another six were found. In a new paper, researchers announce […]
Posted December 9, 2024
Johnson Space Center
Asteroids
Astromaterials
Bennu
General
Missions
NASA Centers & Facilities
NASA Directorates
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer)
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Inst.
The Solar System
As part of an asteroid sample exchange, NASA has transferred to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) a portion of the asteroid Bennu sample collected by the agency’s OSIRIS-REx mission. The sample was officially handed over by NASA officials during a ceremony on Aug. 22 at JAXA’s Sagamihara, Japan, campus.
Posted August 23, 2024
Asteroids
DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test)
Missions
Planetary Defense
Planetary Defense Coordination Office
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
In studying data collected from NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, which in 2022 sent a spacecraft to intentionally collide with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, the mission’s science team has discovered new information on the origins of the target binary asteroid system and why the DART spacecraft was so effective in shifting D
Posted July 30, 2024
Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA)
Asteroids
Deep Space Network
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Planetary Defense
Planetary Defense Coordination Office
Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
Space Communications & Navigation Program
The Deep Space Network’s Goldstone planetary radar had a busy few days observing asteroids 2024 MK and 2011 UL21 as they safely passed Earth. Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California recently tracked two asteroids as they flew by our planet. One turned out to have a little moon orbiting it, while the […]
Posted July 3, 2024
Asteroids
NEA Scout (Near Earth Asteroid Scout)
NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope)
Planetary Defense
Planetary Defense Coordination Office
Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
The fifth Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise focused on an asteroid impact scenario designed by NASA JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. A large asteroid impacting Earth is highly unlikely for the foreseeable future.
Posted July 2, 2024
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer)
Asteroids
Astrobiology
Astromaterials
Bennu
Goddard Space Flight Center
Johnson Space Center
Planetary Science
The Solar System
Scientists have eagerly awaited the opportunity to dig into the 4.3-ounce (121.6-gram) pristine asteroid Bennu sample collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission since it was delivered to Earth last fall.
Posted June 26, 2024
Asteroids
DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test)
Missions
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
NASA has selected 12 participating scientists to join ESA’s (European Space Agency) Hera mission, which is scheduled to launch in October 2024. Hera will study the binary asteroid system Didymos, including the moonlet Dimorphos, which was impacted by NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft on Sept. 26, 2022.
Posted June 25, 2024
Asteroids
General
The Solar System
Images from the November 2023 flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft show a trough on Dinkinesh where a large piece — about a quarter of the asteroid — suddenly shifted, a ridge, and a separate contact binary satellite (now known as Selam). Scientists say this complicated structure shows that Dinkinesh and Selam have […]
Posted May 29, 2024
Apophis
Asteroids
Missions
OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Apophis Explorer)
The Solar System
Uncategorized
Mission engineers were confident NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification – Apophis Explorer) spacecraft could weather its closest ever pass of the Sun on Jan. 2, 2024.
Posted May 28, 2024
Psyche Mission
Asteroids
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Psyche Asteroid
The Solar System
The spacecraft already is beyond the distance of Mars and is using ion propulsion to accelerate toward a metal-rich asteroid, where it will orbit and collect science data. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft passed its six-month checkup with a clean bill of health, and there’s no holding back now.
Posted May 22, 2024
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