Articles about Asteroids

Asteroid hunters say they’ve found 27,500 new prospects in search for space rocks

A team of asteroid hunters that includes researchers at the University of Washington says it has identified 27,500 new, high-confidence… Read More

Engineer inspects OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule after touchdown in Utah

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe delivers sample of asteroid — and moves on to next target

Seven years and 4 billion miles after its launch, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has successfully dropped off a capsule containing a… Read More

Orbital paths of Earth and asteroid 2022 SF289

Scientists successfully test algorithm for identifying potentially hazardous asteroids

A new technique for finding potentially hazardous asteroids before they find us has chalked up its first success. In this… Read More

DART probe hits bull’s eye on an asteroid and strikes a blow for planetary defense

Ten months after NASA’s DART spacecraft was aimed at a mini-asteroid, the probe hit the bull’s eye today in a… Read More

Astronomers demonstrate how using the cloud can rev up the race to find asteroids

Astronomers have used a cloud-based technique pioneered at the University of Washington to identify and track asteroids in bunches of… Read More

NASA begins DART mission to practice pushing away an asteroid, with an extra push from Aerojet

A space probe the size of a school bus is on its way to smash into an asteroid the size… Read More

OSIRIS-REx probe touches down to grab bits of an asteroid, with assist from Aerojet

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe reached the climax of its seven-year round trip to deep space today and briefly touched down on… Read More

First Mode wins $1.8M contract to build hardware for Psyche mission to asteroid

Seattle-based First Mode has been awarded a $1.8 million subcontract from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to build flight hardware for… Read More

Happy Asteroid Day! Why we’re going out to space rocks before they come for us

Today’s 112th anniversary of a close brush with a cosmic catastrophe serves as a teachable moment about the perils and… Read More

Don’t panic: Huge, headline-grabbing asteroid has no chance of hitting us anytime soon

The bad news is that an asteroid of city-killing proportions is heading in our direction, but the good news is… Read More

After buying Planetary Resources, ConsenSys sets its space ideas free — but will sell off the hardware

It’s been a year and a half since the assets of Planetary Resources, the asteroid mining venture headquartered in Redmond,… Read More

After visiting asteroid, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe heads back to Earth with samples

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft and its science team bid a bittersweet farewell to the asteroid Ryugu, 180 million miles from… Read More

One year after Planetary Resources faded into history, space mining retains its appeal

It’s been a year since the Redmond, Wash.-based asteroid mining venture known as Planetary Resources was acquired by ConsenSys and… Read More

NASA science chief says NEO Surveillance Mission will seek out threatening asteroids

The head of NASA’s science operations says the space agency intends to develop a new space-based infrared telescope to hunt… Read More

Scientists claim discovery of a fossilized killing field from the day the dinosaurs died

First, there was a violent shock. Then, there was the roar of a 30-foot-high wave of water, throwing fish onto… Read More

Surprise! NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe catches asteroid spewing bits into space

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has spotted something that hasn’t been seen up close on an asteroid before: plumes of particles erupting… Read More

Watch Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe blast away a blizzard of rocks from an asteroid

If there was ever any doubt that Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft was able to get access to samples from an… Read More

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 team says spacecraft touches down on asteroid to grab sample

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft successfully touched down today on asteroid Ryugu, more than 200 million miles from Earth, during an… Read More

Bradford Space Group buys Deep Space Industries, shifting focus from asteroid mining to propulsion

Bradford Space Group says it’s acquired California-based Deep Space Industries, which means that both of the ventures that were created… Read More

OSIRIS-REx probe goes into close orbit around asteroid Bennu and sets a record

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft today maneuvered into an orbit that takes it within 4,000 feet of the surface of Bennu, a… Read More

That was fast: OSIRIS-REx probe detects water on asteroid Bennu during approach

Just one week after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s official arrival at the asteroid Bennu, the mission’s scientists have announced a significant… Read More

OSIRIS-REx probe reaches asteroid Bennu for close-up survey and sample return

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx today made its official rendezvous with a promising and potentially perilous asteroid named Bennu, after two years of… Read More

See a diamond-shaped asteroid from all sides, courtesy of OSIRIS-REx mission

Two years after its launch, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is closing in on a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu and sending back… Read More

NASA’s Dawn probe falls silent, ending mission to mysterious dwarf planet Ceres

Dawn is dead, but Dawn is not gone: Today NASA said that the Dawn spacecraft has fallen out of contact… Read More

Why in the universe is a blockchain company buying the assets of a formerly high-flying asteroid miner?

After months of financial uncertainty, the Planetary Resources asteroid-mining venture says its assets have been purchased by the Brooklyn-based ConsenSys… Read More

MASCOT lander sends back otherworldly views of asteroid Ryugu’s rugged terrain

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe and the German-French MASCOT lander have teamed up to send back amazing views of an asteroid… Read More

Boxy MASCOT lander plops itself down on asteroid Ryugu for a 17-hour survey

A robotic probe the size of a shoebox set itself down on the asteroid Ryugu, more than 180 million miles… Read More

Check out close-up views of asteroid (plus a movie) from Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission

The scientists and engineers behind Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission made history last week when the mission’s mothership dropped two mini-rovers… Read More

Japanese mini-rovers send back their first images as they hop around an asteroid

Two mini-rovers have sent their first pictures back from the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, a day after they were… Read More

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe drops off rovers at an asteroid and snaps a shadowy selfie

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe began the climactic phase of its mission overnight by sending out its first two rovers as… Read More