Credit: PixabayThe likelihood of a football field-sized asteroid striking Earth in 2032 has dropped significantly to just 0.001 percent, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). Initially, the asteroid set a record for the highest impact probability ever recorded—3.1 percent by NASA and 2.8 percent by the ESA—prompting heightened monitoring from the planetary defense...
Credit: PixabayWhile the chances are slim, an asteroid large enough to destroy an entire city could strike Earth in less than eight years. However, even if this space rock is on a collision course, experts assure us that humanity now has ways to defend itself.NASA recently reported that the probability of asteroid 2024 YR4...
An artist's impression of an asteroid moving through spaceNASA/JPL-CaltechAsteroid 2024 YR4 recently made headlines after NASA estimated a 1-in-32 chance of impact in 2032—the highest probability ever recorded for a hazardous-sized asteroid. Fortunately, new observations have since cut that risk in half.Discovered in late December, the asteroid passed Earth at roughly twice the Moon’s...
Credit: PixabayFirst detected on August 7, 2024, by the University of Hawaiʻi’s ATLAS telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, asteroid 2024 PT5 has intrigued astronomers with its Earth-like orbit around the Sun. This small asteroid, approximately 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter, poses no threat to our planet.Orbiting the Sun in a path similar to...
Credit: DepositphotosNuclear Explosions as a Defense Against AsteroidsPrecisely detonating a nuclear bomb above an approaching asteroid could be our best chance of avoiding a catastrophic impact.Precisely detonating a nuclear bomb above an approaching asteroid could be our best chance of avoiding a catastrophic impact.A laboratory experiment conducted by an international team of researchers showed...
The lunar crater Giordano Bruno, captured here by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, is home sweet home for a small near-Earth asteroid, according to a new studyNASA/Goddard/Arizona State UniversityScientists have long been able to trace many asteroids back to their parent bodies, whether planets or moons. However, they now assert for the first time that...
Astronomers have modeled the orbits of 1.3 million asteroids to check if any could bounce Apophis into an Earthbound pathDepositphotosIn 2029, a sizable asteroid will pass by Earth at such proximity that it will be observable without telescopic aid. Fortunately, calculations of its trajectory suggest that there's no risk of impact in the next...
NASA's asteroid-probing spacecraft, Lucy, has conducted its initial close-up observations, revealing an entirely unexpected find. The asteroid Dinkinesh not only possesses a small orbiting moon but, remarkably, this moon is composed of two objects fused together.Launched in 2021, Lucy is on track to explore more asteroids than any other spacecraft in history. Its primary...
Credit: PixaobayTwo groups of economists have conducted economic evaluations of asteroid mining. One of these groups comprises individuals from the University of Tor Rome Vergata, the University of Maryland, and Middlebury College. They have considered asteroid mining as a natural progression in the financialization of space exploration.The second team, consisting of three members from...
A striking view of Asteroid Itokawa, as captured by the Hayabusa spacecraft. This S-type asteroid, known for its distinctive peanut shape, boasts a diameter of roughly 1,100 feet and completes a full rotation every 12 hours. Credit: JAXA.A recent breakthrough in asteroid research by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft has profound implications for our understanding...
