Spacecraft have visited most pockets of the solar system by now, but a new region is about to come under the robotic inspection: the two clumps of asteroids that flank mighty Jupiter in its orbit.
Although scientists have spotted thousands of so-called Trojan asteroids in these two swarms, no mission has ever seen one up close.
Nuking an Incoming Asteroid Could Actually Work, Study Suggests
Encouraging results from a computer simulation point to the use of nuclear devices as a viable defense against Earth- threatening asteroids that suddenly appear out of the blue.
Ideally, we'd have a few years or even decades to mount a response, such as using the gravitational influence of bulky spacecraft to gently nudge an asteroid from its Earth-bound trajectory.
Asteroids bigger than Pyramid of Giza to pass by Earth, NASA says
Several asteroids bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza will closely pass by Earth in the upcoming weeks, including one this week.
At its closest point, the asteroid will be about 3.6 million miles from Earth. Though that sounds like a safe distance, it's much closer than our neighbor Venus, which can be 74.8 million miles away depending on each planet's orbit.
Multiple asteroids larger than pyramids head towards Earth - The Jerusalem Post
First-look weather forecast favorable for launch of Lucy asteroid mission Saturday –
NASA and United Launch Alliance officials met Wednesday and cleared an Atlas 5 rocket for launch from Cape Canaveral before dawn Saturday with the Lucy asteroid mission, a robotic spacecraft to visit unexplored asteroids in the outer solar system.
Managers gave a “go” to continue rocket preparations during a launch readiness review Wednesday, giving a green light for teams to press on with rollout of the 188-foot-tall (57.3-meter) Atlas 5 rocket to its launch pad Thursday morning.
CU-UAE asteroid outpost seen as first step to being "better space-faring species"
A robotic spacecraft shaped like a butterfly with a camper van-sized body, parked on an asteroid, will be humankind’s latest outpost for interplanetary exploration.
University of Colorado engineers are teaming with the United Arab Emirates — again — to build the spacecraft and launch it in 2028 when Venus and the Earth align. The mission requires sling-shotting the station around Venus to gain momentum and reach the asteroid 350 million miles
Lucy in the sky: Spacecraft will visit record 8 asteroids - The Washington Post
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Attention asteroid aficionados: NASA is set to launch a series of spacecraft to visit and even bash some of the solar system's most enticing space rocks.
The robotic trailblazer named Lucy is up first, blasting off this weekend on a 12-year cruise to swarms of asteroids out near Jupiter — unexplored time capsules from the dawn of the solar system.
Asteroid Belt Object Twice the Size of the Grand Canyon Imaged
Astronomers have created highly detailed images of 42 of the solar system's largest asteroid belt objects, including Ceres which has a diameter twice as long as the Grand Canyon.
The team used the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert, in Chile, to image the objects that exist in the solar system's main asteroid belt, located between Jupiter and Mars.
Primates’ ancestors may have left trees to survive asteroid -- ScienceDaily
Arboreal species were especially at risk of extinction due to global deforestation caused by wildfires from the asteroid's impact.
The study points to the influence of this extinction event, known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, on shaping the early evolution and diversification of mammals.
Happening on Twitter
Lucy's gigantic solar arrays stretch out like a paper fan to 24 feet, or 7.3 meters. The arrays allow the spacecraf… https://t.co/1iLVNruraE NASA (from Pale Blue Dot) Thu Oct 14 19:35:00 +0000 2021
Welcome to Rollout Day for ULA's #AtlasV rocket and @NASA's #LucyMission to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaver… https://t.co/WqAmKeYHjr ulalaunch (from Denver, CO) Thu Oct 14 13:30:18 +0000 2021
The #AtlasV rocket and #LucyMission emerge from the assembly building as they make their way to the pad for Saturda… https://t.co/dL9tWiMV3n ulalaunch (from Denver, CO) Thu Oct 14 14:45:25 +0000 2021
The Launch Readiness Review has given approval to continue preparations for Saturday's liftoff of the #AtlasV to se… https://t.co/fzN1o4cb6Y ulalaunch (from Denver, CO) Wed Oct 13 14:28:30 +0000 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment