Asteroids

DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test)

Missions

Planetary Defense

Planetary Defense Coordination Office

Planetary Science

Planetary Science Division

Science Mission Directorate

The Solar System

NASA’s DART Mission Sheds New Light on Target Binary Asteroid 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

NASA’s Planetary Radar Tracks Two Large Asteroid Close Approaches

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)

NASA Asteroid Experts Create Hypothetical Impact Scenario for Exercise

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

Surprising Phosphate Finding in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample

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 Selects Participating Scientists to Join ESA’s Hera Mission

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

NASA Lucy Images Reveal Asteroid Dinkinesh to be Surprisingly Complex

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

NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX Unscathed After Searing Pass of Sun

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

NASA’s Psyche Fires Up Its Sci-Fi-Worthy Thrusters

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

Asteroids

Astrophysics

Astrophysics Division

Citizen Science

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Missions

Science Mission Directorate

The Solar System

Hubble Goes Hunting for Small Main Belt Asteroids

Like boulders, rocks, and pebbles scattered across a landscape, asteroids come in a wide range of sizes. Cataloging asteroids in space is tricky because they are faint and they don’t stop to be photographed as they zip along their orbits around the Sun. Astronomers recently used a trove of archived images taken by NASA’s Hubble […]

Posted April 18, 2024

OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer)

Asteroids

Goddard Space Flight Center

Johnson Space Center

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Awarded Collier Trophy

NASA and the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission team have won the National Aeronautic Association’s (NAA) Robert J. Collier Trophy.

Posted March 26, 2024