The jig may be up for an "asteroid" that's expected to get nabbed by Earth's gravity and become a mini moon next month. Instead of a cosmic rock, the newly discovered object appears to be an old rocket from a failed moon-landing mission 54 years ago that's finally making its way back home, according to NASA's leading asteroid expert. Observations should help nail its identity.
Chodas speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually the Centaur upper rocket stage that successfully propelled NASA's Surveyor 2 lander to the moon in 1966 before it was discarded. The lander ended up crashing into the moon after one of its thrusters failed to ignite on the way there. The rocket, meanwhile, swept past the moon and into orbit around the sun as intended junk, never to be seen again — until perhaps now.
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'Asteroid Hunters,' inspired by an asteroid deflection mission, launches in IMAX today | Space
Many years ago, long-time Hollywood film distributor Phil Groves saw a news story about asteroids that re-ignited his childhood interest in space.
Groves' passion for asteroids will soon come through on screen nationwide as his brand new documentary "Asteroid Hunters" launches in IMAX theaters. The film debuted at the Kennedy Space Center Tuesday (Oct. 6) and will launch coast-to-coast on Thursday (Oct. 8). Screenings may be available in other countries as well; check your local listings. "Star Wars" star Daisy Ridley (Rey) provides the film's narration, which is directed by W.D. Hogan ("Deadliest Warrior").
Boulders on asteroid Bennu shed new light on the space rock's history | Space
The near-Earth asteroid Bennu continues to reveal its secrets to NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, which has been orbiting the space rock for nearly two years.
New research reveals veins of carbonite materials in Bennu's boulders, as well as signs of organic minerals widespread across its surface. The variety of rock compositions on the asteroid's surface, the gravity of the asteroid, and the unbalanced, diamond-shaped structure of the asteroid's body suggest that Bennu formed after the collision of two parent asteroids, the study found.
NASA reveals secrets of near-Earth asteroid Bennu ahead of daring heist - CNET
The past 4.5 billion years have been an incredibly lonely period for the asteroid 101955 Bennu. A gigantic impact in the early days of the solar system smashed an ancient cosmic rock to pieces, ejecting dust and debris into the void. Gravity forced the rubble pile to clot together and, ever since, it's been wandering alone as Bennu, the space rock shaped like a spinning top. For billions of years, it's drifted around the sun between Earth and Mars, untouched and unaccompanied.
Not to change the topic here:
Tunguska explosion in 1908 caused by asteroid grazing Earth | Astronomy.com
In the early morning of June 30, 1908, a massive explosion flattened entire forests in a remote region of Eastern Siberia along the Tunguska River. Curiously, the explosion left no crater, creating a mystery that has puzzled scientists ever since — what could have caused such a huge blast without leaving any remnants of itself?
Now Daniil Khrennikov at the Siberian Federal University in Russia and colleagues have published a new model of the incident that may finally resolve the mystery. Khrennikov and co say the explosion was caused by an asteroid that grazed the Earth, entering the atmosphere at a shallow angle and then passing out again into space.
2 asteroids safely flew by Earth on Monday | Space
Two asteroids made close flybys of Earth on Monday (Sept. 14), in both cases showing a common occurrence that didn't put our home planet at any risk.
The first space rock, a bus-size asteroid called 2020 RF3, whizzed by our planet 58,500 miles (94,000 kilometers) away at 2:49 a.m. EDT (0649 GMT), according to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near Earth Object Studies. That's the equivalent distance of one-quarter of the way to Earth's moon, a distance of 239,000 miles (385,000 km).
Covid-19 Is Big Oil's Asteroid Strike - The Washington Post
Covid-19 may do for Big Oil what the Chicxulub asteroid did for the dinosaurs when it struck Earth 66 million years ago.
Much like the "terrible lizards," Big Oil was already in decline before the novel coronavirus hit. The world in which they thrived is changing around them and they face multiple threats to their future health. But the outbreak's impact has accelerated the process.
The pandemic has slashed oil demand, taking prices down with it. Producers everywhere were slow to react. Now the recovery is taking longer than initially expected, as infection rates remain stubbornly high in the U.S. and they spike again in Europe.
Space news: Asteroid 2000 WO107 heading towards Earth | 7NEWS.com.au
While you won't be able to see it with the naked eye stargazers are excited because of its size and because it will be closer than previous passes.
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This is also a speedy space rock, travelling at a staggering 90,252 km/h, that's about 25.07 km per second.
While most asteroids are a fair distance from Earth, approximately every 2,000 years, an asteroid the size of a cricket pitch smashes into our planet.
It is between 38 and 86 metres across, according to NASA - that's about the size of three double-decker buses.
Happening on Twitter
What looks like an asteroid that is expected to be pulled into Earth's orbit next month in fact may be an old rocke… https://t.co/46t5c4IAsz AP (from Global) Sun Oct 11 12:25:27 +0000 2020
"I'm pretty jazzed about this": NASA expert identifies mystery object once thought an asteroid https://t.co/45nBotuHvd CBSNews (from New York, NY) Mon Oct 12 02:29:42 +0000 2020
Fake asteroid? NASA expert IDs mystery object as old rocket https://t.co/6AMYEu9izq Independent (from London, England) Sun Oct 11 12:17:43 +0000 2020
Fake asteroid? NASA expert IDs mystery object as old rocket https://t.co/4OA8fkPCVA https://t.co/3nDfeEJCJC CTVNews Sun Oct 11 17:00:09 +0000 2020
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