Nasa Asteroid Mission

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  Asteroid 2024 YR4 Raises Concerns Over Moon Impact; Scientists Consider Nuclear Defence

  Asteroid 2024 YR4 is drawing global attention as a possible lunar impactor in 2032. Though the chances of Earth impact have dropped, a collision with the Moon could still create dangerous orbital debris. Scientists stress preparedness, exploring deflection missions and nuclear defense strategies.

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  NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Finds Stardust in Asteroid Bennu Older Than the Solar System

  NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has found presolar stardust grains inside Bennu’s samples. These tiny particles, older than the Sun, carry chemical fingerprints of ancient stars and interstellar space. Bennu thus serves as a pristine time capsule, preserving the earliest clues to the birth of our solar system.

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  Life In Asteroid Belt? New Research Suggests Ceres Was Once Habitable

  A new study based on data from NASA's Dawn mission suggests that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, may have been capable of supporting single-celled life billions of years ago.

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  Massive Boulders Ejected by DART Mission Could Complicate Future Asteroid Deflection

  NASA’s DART mission successfully deflected an asteroid but also unleashed high-velocity boulders with unexpected momentum. These chaotic ejecta may alter asteroid spin and orbit, complicating future deflection strategies. A new study highlights the importance of accounting for such forces in planetary defence. ESA’s Hera mission will further in...

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  Watch: NASA Mission Captures First Close Look At Peanut-Shaped Asteroid

  NASA has released the first-ever high-resolution image of the main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, highlighting its unique peanut shape.

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  Asteroid Vesta May Be a Fragment of a Lost Planet, Say Scientists

  Vesta, once believed to be a stalled protoplanet, may be a fragment of a long-lost differentiated planet. Using refined gravity data from NASA’s Dawn mission, scientists found it lacks a dense core, suggesting it was ejected during a primordial impact. This revised view may apply to other asteroids and reshape planetary formation theories.

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  NASA’s Psyche Mission Encounters Pressure Drop, Backup Systems on Standby

  NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, en route to a metal-rich asteroid, paused its thrusters after detecting a drop in xenon gas pressure. Engineers are investigating the issue while keeping the mission on track. Psyche will fly by Mars in 2026 before entering asteroid orbit in 2029.

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  NASA Shares Planetary Defense Strategy to Protect Earth From Potential Asteroid Strikes

  NASA and international scientists closely tracked asteroid 2024 YR4, which initially showed a rare 3 percent collision probability with Earth. Although the threat has now diminished, the incident highlights the importance of asteroid surveillance, open data, and upcoming space missions like NEO Surveyor.

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  NASA Partners With SpaceX To Launch NEO Surveyor, a Mission To Detect Asteroid Threats

  NASA has selected SpaceX for the launch of its NEO Surveyor spacecraft in 2027. The mission, valued at $100 million, will use a Falcon 9 rocket to deploy the spacecraft to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1. The infrared telescope will help detect and track hazardous near-Earth objects, including difficult-to-spot dark asteroids. This mission builds on...

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  UCLA Unveils SPLITTER, a Tethered Jumping Robot for Space Exploration

  Researchers at UCLA’s RoMeLa lab have developed SPLITTER, a robotic system designed for planetary exploration through tethered jumping. The system consists of two quadrupedal robots connected by a tether, allowing efficient movement in low-gravity environments like the Moon and asteroids. Unlike traditional rovers, SPLITTER’s design enables sta...