NASA on Tuesday celebrated exceeding expectations during a mission to deflect a distant asteroid, in a sci-fi like test of humanity's ability to stop an incoming cosmic object from devastating life on Earth.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 11, 2022
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New research finds that 'Oumuamua, the rocky object identified as the first confirmed interstellar asteroid, very likely came from a binary star system.
Astronomy
Mar 19, 2018
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When NASA's Lucy spacecraft flew past its first official target Dinkinesh in November 2023, researchers discovered that the asteroid—known as "Dinky"—was not alone in space. A satellite asteroid, which the team named ...
Planetary Sciences
May 29, 2024
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An asteroid dubbed "Lucy's baby" after a NASA spacecraft discovered it is orbiting another asteroid last November is,, in fact,, a solar system toddler—just 2–3 million years old, a Cornell-led research team estimates ...
Astronomy
Apr 30, 2024
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On Nov. 1, NASA's Lucy spacecraft flew by not just its first asteroid, but its first two. The first images returned by Lucy reveal that the small main belt asteroid Dinkinesh is actually a binary pair.
Planetary Sciences
Nov 2, 2023
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As ESA's Hera spacecraft for planetary defense goes through pre-flight testing, the system that will steer it around its target binary asteroid system is also undergoing its final checks for space.
Space Exploration
May 30, 2024
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A specially upgraded radio-frequency chamber in ESA's technical heart is testing what is set to become the smallest radar system to be flown in space, hosted aboard a breadbox-sized spacecraft.
Space Exploration
Nov 17, 2021
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Asteroid researchers and spacecraft engineers from the US, Europe and around the world will gather in Rome next week to discuss the latest progress in their common goal: an ambitious double-spacecraft mission to deflect an ...
Space Exploration
Sep 2, 2019
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ESA's planet-defending Hera mission will set a new record in space. The asteroid investigator will not only be the first spacecraft to explore a binary asteroid system – the Didymos pair – but the smaller of these two ...
Space Exploration
Feb 4, 2019
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When ESA's planned Hera mission journeys to its target binary asteroid system, it will not be alone. The spacecraft will carry two tiny CubeSats for deployment around – and eventual landing on – the Didymos asteroids. ...
Space Exploration
Jan 7, 2019
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