NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has successfully scooped up a bucket-full of the asteroid Bennu , and it’ll begin its journey back to Earth soon. Scientists will learn a great deal about the space rock once they get their hands on that sample, but we’re already learning some surprising things based on data collected by OSIRIS-REx. A new analysis from the University of Colorado Boulder's OSIRIS-REx team suggests the Bennu is much less stable than expected .
OSIRIS-REx arrived in orbit of Bennu in late 2018 and immediately set to work finding a suitable landing zone. NASA scientists noted that the surface of Bennu was much more challenging than expected, rife with boulders and fields of uneven rocky debris strewn around the surface. Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission encountered similar conditions on Ryugu recently, but both the Japanese spacecraft and OSIRIS-REx were able to find suitable sampling locations.
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End of world in 2068? Asteroid 'Apophis' equal to size of 3 football grounds may hit Earth
Discovered in 2004, asteroid Apophis is a 1,120-foot-wide (340-meter-wide) asteroid, about the size of three-and-a-half football fields, NASA said.
Researchers at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA) have announced the detection of Yarkovsky acceleration on the near-Earth asteroid Apophis. This acceleration arises from an extremely weak force on an object due to non-uniform thermal radiation.
This force is particularly important for the asteroid Apophis as it affects the probability of an Earth impact in 2068, the astronomers said.
Watch the exact moment a NASA spacecraft 'tags' an asteroid
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft touched down briefly on an asteroid Tuesday, gathering samples of the space rock that will be delivered to Earth in 2023. The intricate maneuver, conducted more than 200 million miles from Earth, was the first time NASA has collected pieces of an asteroid in space.
On Wednesday, the agency released new video of the spacecraft's cosmic encounter with the asteroid, named Bennu. The images, which were taken by a camera aboard OSIRIS-REx, show the final moments of the spacecraft's descent.
Hubble telescope reveals asteroid Psyche's rusty surface | Space | EarthSky
Scientists already had Psyche classified as a metallic asteroid, but new observations with the Hubble telescope reveal its rusty surface and provide scientists with a unique view into what Earth-like planets are like during their formation.
Artist’s concept of 16 Psyche, a massive asteroid located 230 million miles (370 million km) away from Earth. New ultraviolet observations of the asteroid and its surface revealed that it may be made entirely of nickel and iron, making it the perfect candidate to tell the tale of how Earth-like planets are formed. It is thought to be the core of a failed planet formation. Image via Maxar/ ASU/ P. Rubin/
NASA/ JPL-Caltech .
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This spacecraft is being readied for a one-way mission to deflect an asteroid | MIT Technology
In a clean room in Building 23 at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, a spacecraft called DART was splayed open like a fractured, cubic egg. An instrument called a star tracker—which will, once DART is in deep space, ascertain which way is up—was mounted to the core, along with batteries and a variety of other sensors.
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DART—the Double Asteroid Redirection Test—is designed to crash into an asteroid called Dimorphos. The impact will change Dimorphos's speed by about one millimeter per second, or one five-hundredth of a mile per hour. Though Dimorphos is not about to collide with Earth, DART is intended to demonstrate the ability to deflect an asteroid like it that is headed our way, should one ever be discovered.
Asteroid-munching microbes could mine materials from space rocks | New Scientist
An experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) has shown that microbes can extract valuable or useful elements from rocks in microgravity, suggesting “biomining” might be key to making use of asteroids.
Microbes leach elements out of rocks by releasing compounds that accelerate chemical reactions, such as acids that dissolve the rocks and allow the microbes to consume the elements they need to survive. Charles Cockell at the University of Edinburgh in the UK and his colleagues sent an experiment called BioRock to the ISS last year to investigate whether this would work in the low gravity on the space station.
Massive Asteroid 'Apophis' May Hit Earth in 2068, Says Astronomers | The Weather
Astronomers have revealed that a large asteroid named 'Apophis' expected to pass extremely close or may hit the Earth in 2068 due to a phenomenon called Yarkovsky effect. Researchers at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA) in the US, have announced the detection of Yarkovsky acceleration on the near-Earth asteroid Apophis.
This acceleration arises from an extremely weak force on an object due to non-uniform thermal radiation. This force is particularly important for the asteroid Apophis, as it affects the probability of an Earth impact in 2068, the astronomers said.
SwRI scientist studies tiny craters on Bennu boulders to understand asteroid's age | EurekAlert!
IMAGE: SwRI and the University of Arizona studied centimeter- to meter-sized craters on boulders scattered around the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. This composite shows the cascading rim of an... view more
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SAN ANTONIO -- Nov. 10, 2020 -- Last week NASA snagged a sample from the surface of asteroid Bennu, an Empire State Building-sized body that Southwest Research Institute scientists have helped map with nearly unprecedented precision. Using orbital data from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, researchers measured centimeter- to meter-sized craters on the boulders scattered around its rugged surface to shed light on the age of the asteroid.
Happening on Twitter
Bad news for people hoping for an asteroid to hit the earth - one of the contenders may be breaking up en route to… https://t.co/4HqHdbifs3 RT_com Tue Nov 10 06:15:00 +0000 2020
Remember when I touched down on asteroid Bennu? 🤯 Let's look back at how some of my team members were feeling that… https://t.co/SPMMpRGMjp OSIRISREx (from Asteroid Bennu) Tue Nov 10 16:46:35 +0000 2020
UPDATE: Incredible new footage of OSIRIS-REX tagging asteroid Bennu. Watch HERE 👇 #OSIRISrex #TaggingBennu… https://t.co/vaX3VWMyJU CaraSantaMaria (from Los Angeles) Tue Nov 10 15:20:00 +0000 2020
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