Asteroid tagged posts

Nuking a Huge Asteroid could Save Earth, Lab Experiment Suggests

A big asteroid could threaten life on Earth -- but nuclear bombs could come to the rescue, a new laboratory experiment suggests
A big asteroid could threaten life on Earth — but nuclear bombs could come to the rescue, a new laboratory experiment suggests.

The biggest real-life test of our planetary defenses was carried out in 2022, when NASA’s fridge-sized DART spacecraft smashed into a 160-metre (525-feet) wide asteroid, successfully knocking it well off course.

But for bigger asteroids, merely crashing spaceships into them will probably not do the trick.

When the roughly 10-kilometer wide Chicxulub asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula around 66 million years ago, it is believed to have plunged Earth into darkness, sent kilometers-high tsunamis rippling around the globe and killed three quarters of all life—including wiping out the dinosaurs.

We humans are hoping to avoid a similar fate.

The...

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Japan space agency finds ample Soil, Gas from Asteroid

This Dec. 14, 2020, photo released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), shows black grains, right, thought to be from Ryugu are inside the sample container of the re-entry capsule of Hayabusa2, in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. Japan’s space agency said Monday it has confirmed the presence of black soil samples inside a capsule that the spacecraft Hayabusa2 brought back from a distant asteroid last week. (JAXA via AP)

Officials from Japan’s space agency said Tuesday they have found more than the anticipated amount of soil and gases inside a small capsule the country’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought back from a distant asteroid this month, a mission they praised as a milestone for planetary research.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said its staff initially spotted some bla...

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Touch-and-go: US Spacecraft Sampling Asteroid for return

Touch-and-go: US spacecraft sampling asteroid for return
This undated image made available by NASA shows the asteroid Bennu from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. After almost two years circling the ancient asteroid, OSIRIS-REx will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a handful of rubble on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/CSA/York/MDA via AP)

After almost two years circling an ancient asteroid hundreds of millions of miles away, a NASA spacecraft this week will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a handful of rubble.

The drama unfolds Tuesday as the U.S. takes its first crack at collecting asteroid samples for return to Earth, a feat accomplished so far only by Japan.

Brimming with names inspired by Egyptian mythology, the Osiris-Rex mission ...

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Asteroid Ryugu’s Rocky Past

Four images of grey rocks
Surface Rocks. Hayabusa2 captures images of unusually bright S-type rocks that stand out from the darker C-type material that makes up the bulk of Ryugu. © 2020 Tatsumi et al.

Different kinds of rocks on Ryugu provide clues to the asteroid’s turbulent history. Researchers find evidence that asteroid Ryugu was born out of the possible destruction of a larger parent asteroid millions of years ago. Thanks to the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, the international team was able to study certain surface features in detail. Variations in the kinds of boulders scattered on Ryugu tell researchers about the processes involved in its creation. The study of asteroids including Ryugu informs the study of the evolution of life on Earth.

The asteroid Ryugu may look like a solid piece of rock, but it’s more ...

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