If you’ve ever had concerns or even a passing curiosity about an asteroid named Apophis slamming into Earth in the near future, causing widespread death and destruction and/or even bringing about the demise of civilization as we know it, you can safely jettison all of them into a safe solar parking orbit. Not only will…
Tag: asteroids
Are There “Aliens” in our Solar System?
No, I don’t mean little grey men in hard candy-shaped ships, I mean natural objects that have origins from outside of our own Solar System—small worlds that formed around a different star. It’s entirely possible that objects can be ejected from a star system and find their way into orbit around another, or even gravitationally…
So No New Earth Trojans, But OSIRIS-REx’s MapCam Surpassed Expectations
Remember when I mentioned that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was going to be scanning for “Trojan” asteroids at Earth-Sun L4? Well the results are in and survey says: no new Trojans (besides 2010 TK7, which we already knew about.) But the search wasn’t in vain—it gave mission scientists a chance put the spacecraft’s OCAMS instruments to the test and they passed with flying…
NASA Announces Two New Exploration Missions
Happy New Year! Just four days into 2017 NASA announced its pick for two new Discovery missions to explore our solar system: one to investigate a few of the “Trojan” asteroids that Jupiter has gathered into its orbit with its mighty gravity, and another to visit the remains of an ancient planet’s metallic core! “These are true…
You Will Love This Animated Space Adventure.
That’s not a suggestion; it’s an order. 🙂 It doesn’t matter if it’s not scientifically accurate, or that asteroid fields don’t really work like that, or that you can’t “swim” through space. None of that matters with something at this level of cool. Enjoy! Video and music by Professor Soap
What’s Up for June?
Can’t see the video below? Click here. Jane Houston Jones from JPL tells us What’s Up For June in space exploration! (Hint: it’s solar system collisions!) The early solar system was a messy place and asteroids, moons and planets frequently collided and these collisions and impacts left scars we can see. Credit: NASA / JPL
Thirty Years of Asteroid Discovery
Can’t see the video below? Click here. This mesmerizing animation by Scott Manley illustrates the procession of asteroid discoveries from 1980 – 2010, illuminating each as they were spotted and categorized. The colors indicate how closely the asteroids come to the inner solar system… Earth-orbit-crossers are red, Earth-approachers are yellow and all the others are…
Lights in the Dark 