Not to be confused with the revolutionary new SpinLaunch system (a land-based centrifuge machine that whips a rocket around in circles and then slingshots it straight into low Earth orbit), Cambridge scientists have conceived a network of orbital, solar-sail sentry satellites that unleash stored-up energy when asteroids and comets are detected, in order to slingshot them toward the sun's gravity and chase down these elusive cosmic rocks and snowballs.
Researchers at MIT have proposed an intriguing concept to chase down rogue astral bodies like the oddly shaped Oumuamua and Comet 2I/Borisov , one that employs a "dynamic orbital slingshot" to get a more personal peek at interstellar visitors from beyond. Their methods would dispatch a fleet of small satellites parked in orbit around our warming star to take a whiplash ride around the sun to catch up with these mysterious rocky objects.
Quite a lot has been going on:
NASA asteroid defense test could trigger an artificial meteor shower
A planned NASA mission to test its capability to defend Earth from an incoming asteroid could cause the planet's first-ever artificial meteor shower, a study found earlier this year.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test ( DART ) spacecraft's mission will be to slam into the smaller of the two Didymos asteroids as they pass within about 6.8 million miles of the Earth in the fall of 2022.
NASA said the $69 million self-destruct mission is the first aimed at testing its ability to deflect an asteroid by ramming a spacecraft into it at high speeds.
NASA tracking giant asteroid travelling up to 26,000mph towards Earth's orbit - Daily Star
The asteroid measures between 670 metres and 1.5 kilometres in diameter, the equivalent to 2198ft and 4921ft wide.
NASA has dubbed the rock 136796 (1997 BQ), and it was first observed by astrologists on January 16, 1997.
It is classed as an Apollo asteroid, one which intersects with Earth's orbit during its space journey.
The asteroid is expected to approach Earth's orbit on Thursday, May 21st at 9.45PM Eastern Time, or 02.45am on Friday, May 22nd British Standard Time.
This giant asteroid that will fly by Earth Wednesday looks like it's wearing a face mask
An asteroid estimated to be 1.2 miles wide will fly by Earth early Wednesday morning, but it's not expected to collide with our planet.
The asteroid is called 52768 (1998 OR2) , and it was first spotted in 1998. On April 29, it will pass within 3,908,791 miles of Earth, moving at 19,461 miles per hour. That's still 16 times farther than the distance between Earth and the moon.
The flyby is expected to occur at 5:56 a.m. ET, according to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. The center tracks Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs, that could collide with Earth. They have been tracking this particular asteroid for 20 years, according to NASA.
Check out this next:
Scratching the Surface: Psyche the Asteroid | KUAF
Today Pluto Manager Caitlin Ahrens talks about Psyche, one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt.
Tune into this installment of Scratching the Surface to hear all about this unique member of our solar community, as well as future news to come.
PRESS RELEASE: Asteroid Australia announces The Biggest Contest in Our Solar System - Media
The BlockClaim™ Protocol uses blockchain technology to ensure that a particular claim cannot be altered. Mining claiming has always been about who claims first, which then affords that individual the right to the claim.
Asteroid has provided a consistent transparent way to identify the value and the mining claim to the over 937,000 asteroids. Asteroid has created an open-sourced blockchain ledger. Each BlockClaim™ will be stored in a distributed ledger system that is tamper-proof and transparent.
A Japanese spacecraft sent back images of the rocky asteroid 'Ryugu' — and they're
The Hayabusa2 probe has sent back stunning images of the surface of Ryugu, giving researchers an up-close look at the asteroid's rocky surface.
February 21st, 2019, the Japanese space agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft touched down on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu — the orbit of which brings it between Earth and Mars — granting researchers at close-up look at the object's rocky-surface. The images, released in a paper published in the journal Science, come as a precursor to samples that will be returned to the research team in December 2020.
Sampling an Asteroid and Exploring Alien Oceans | The Planetary Society
The Apollo missions collectively brought back almost 4 million times more material from the Moon than the 100 milligrams JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission hopes to bring back from asteroid Ryugu. Still, scientists can learn a huge amount from such a tiny sample.
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An uncrewed Cygnus cargo ship left the International Space Station after a 3-month stay . The trash-filled spacecraft will guide itself into Earth’s atmosphere later this month for destructive reentry. Ground controllers were expected to trigger a small, contained fire inside the spacecraft shortly after it left as part of ongoing space fire safety research. Cygnus is also scheduled to deploy CubeSats before its mission ends.
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