On August 28, 2021, the Mount Lemmon Observatory, located north of Tucson, Arizona, picked by an object cruising in the vastness of space. There was nothing unusual about it like other such objects detected every day beyond Earth. But in the days that followed, this asteroid became a priority as observations from…
As many as 40 scientific proposals have been accepted from research teams across the world as everyone queues up to get a piece of asteroid that hides ingredients for life. The selected proposals are from nine countries, requesting 74 sample grains, which is 230 mg of the total asteroid samples collected. A spacecraft…
On December 11, a large asteroid – about 330 metres in diameter – will safely fly past our planet. Named “4660 Nereus”, the near-earth asteroid is a frequent visitor to near-Earth space. The last time it whizzed past us was on March 22, 2011, and the next visit is expected on March 2, 2031. Despite the…
When the Dart mission launches on November 24, scientists will be on their toes to attempt a first of its kind event in deep space – crashing a spacecraft purposely in an asteroid. As the spacecraft hits the celestial object, scientists are hoping it will change the orbit of the asteroid and demonstrate a unique…