asteroid

Darkness caused by dino-killing asteroid snuffed out life on Earth in 9 months

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The years following the asteroid impact that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs were dark times — literally. Soot from raging wildfires filled the sky and blocked the sun, directly contributing to the wave of extinctions that followed, new research has found. After the asteroid struck, around 66 million years ago, the cataclysm extinguished many forms of … Read more

We Just Got The First Haunting Photo From NASA’s Asteroid Deflecting Spacecraft

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It might not look like much, but here is the first monumental image from the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). Earlier this month, a circular door covering the aperture of its DRACO telescopic camera was opened, allowing the camera to take its first image.     Now, imagine what the camera’s last image will be like: … Read more

MIT Scientists Design a ‘Flying Saucer’ That Could Float Across The Moon

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Researchers have imagined a lightweight, flying saucer-style rover that can float across the surface of the Moon and other airless planetary surfaces such as asteroids. The ‘flying saucer’ would be powered by the electric field that builds up due to direct exposure to the Sun and its surrounding plasma. In the absence of an atmosphere, this … Read more

Bits of asteroid Ryugu are among ‘most primordial’ materials ever examined

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Tiny particles of rock gathered from the asteroid Ryugu are some of the most primordial bits of material ever examined on Earth and could give us a glimpse into the origins of the solar system. Asteroid 162173 Ryugu measures about 2,953 feet (900 meters) in diameter and orbits the sun between Earth and Mars, occasionally … Read more

Asteroid Ryugu: Space rock sample brought to Earth has a strange dark colour

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Last year, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid explorer returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu, and now the first analysis of the rock shows it has a primitive composition and a curiously dark colour Space 20 December 2021 By Alex Wilkins Artist’s impression of Hayabusa 2 near Ryugu Akihiro Ikeshita The asteroid Ryugu contains some of the … Read more

We Finally Have The First-Ever Analysis of Stardust Retrieved From The Ryugu Asteroid

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It’s been over a year since the Hayabusa2 probe delivered its precious cargo of dust from an alien space rock, and we’re finally getting a more detailed glimpse of what makes up asteroid Ryugu.   In two papers published today, international teams of scientists have revealed that, in accordance with analyses conducted by the probe … Read more

UAE looks to build on Mars mission success with tour of the asteroid belt

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Less than a year after nailing its first interplanetary mission with a flawless Mars orbit insertion, the United Arab Emirates has selected its next destination: the asteroid belt. In October, the UAE announced that it was aiming to launch a new spacecraft in 2028. Like the Hope Mars orbiter, the as-yet-unnamed asteroid mission is designed … Read more

Curious Kids: How did crocodiles survive the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?

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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Mike Lee, Professor in Evolutionary Biology (jointly appointed with South Australian Museum), Flinders University How did the crocodiles survive the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs? – Éamonn, age 5, Western Australia Hi Éamonn! This is a great question, … Read more

NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Impact Monitoring System Just Got Switched On

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When it comes to avoiding asteroid-inflicted apocalypse, we’ll take all the help we can get, and NASA’s next-generation asteroid impact monitoring system, which has just been activated, has us sleeping a little bit easier in our beds.   Called Sentry-II, the new system can take data collected from telescopes and work out the path of … Read more