New Results from NASA’s DART Planetary Defense Mission Confirm We Can Deflect Deadly Asteroids

Plume of dust and debris from the surface of the asteroid Dimorphos.

The DART impact blasted a vast plume of dust and debris from the surface of the asteroid Dimorphos. (Image: T. Kareta (Lowell Observatory), M. Knight (US Naval Academy) via CTIO / NOIRLab / SOAR / NSF / AURA)

Early Results From NASA’s DART Mission

The asteroid Didymos.

This image is constructed from several images taken on November 30, 2022 by astronomers at Magdalena Ridge Observatory in New Mexico, USA. It holds Didymos still in the frame, and thus the background stars are seen as linear trails of dots. Average images like this can provide additional details to astronomers studying faint structures in the ejecta tail. This image is roughly 32,000 kilometers across the field of view at the distance of Didymos. (Image: Magdalena Ridge Observatoryvia NM Tech)

Scientists Release First Analysis of Rocks Plucked From Speeding Asteroid

The Ryugu asteroid in space.

Samples from asteroid Ryugu suggest it’s leftover from formation of the sun billions of years ago. (Image: via Pixabay)

Could Meteorites Have Generated the Blueprint for Life?

Conceptual image of meteoroids delivering nucleobases to ancient Earth. The nucleobases are represented by structural diagrams with hydrogen atoms as white spheres, carbon as black, nitrogen as blue and oxygen as red.

Conceptual image of meteoroids delivering nucleobases to ancient Earth. The nucleobases are represented by structural diagrams with hydrogen atoms as white spheres, carbon as black, nitrogen as blue and oxygen as red. (Image: Dan Gallagher via NASA Goddard / CI Lab/)

4 Amazing Facts You Didn’t Know About Space

Astronaut on a space walk reaching toward the camera with Earth and the Sun seen in the background.

You might be surprised by some of the space facts that most people don't know. (Image: Alexey Kuzin via Dreamstime)

ESO Captures Best Images Yet of Peculiar Kleopatra Asteroid

Asteroid Kleopatra compared to the size of Chile.

This image provides a size comparison of the asteroid Kleopatra with Chile.  This image provides a size comparison of the asteroid Kleopatra with Chile. (Image: via ESO /M. Kornmesser / Marchis et al.)

Asteroid That Hit Botswana in 2018 Likely Came From Vesta

An asteroid heading to Earth.

The small asteroid that impacted Botswana, called 2018 LA, was first spotted by the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey as a faint point of light moving among the stars. (Image: 9866112 via Pixabay)

How Scientists Are ‘Looking’ Inside Asteroids

An asteroid heading to crash on Earth.

Asteroids can pose a threat to life on Earth, but they are also a valuable source of resources to make fuel or water to aid deep space exploration. Devoid of geological and atmospheric processes, these space rocks provide a window onto the evolution of the solar system. (Image: 9866112 via Pixabay)

How Were Trojan Asteroids Discovered and Named?

Trojan asteroids around Jupiter.

Illustration of the Lucy mission's seven targets: the binary asteroid Patroclus/Menoetius, Eurybates, Orus, Leucus, Polymele, and the main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson. (Image: via NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab)

Comet Makes a Pit Stop Near Jupiter’s Asteroids

A comet moving through space.

After traveling several billion miles toward the Sun, a wayward young comet-like object orbiting among the giant planets has found a temporary parking place along the way. (Image: 1980supra via Pixabay)