Stunning images taken from the historic OSIRIS-REx mission show the moment the spacecraft touched down on the asteroid Bennu more than 200 million miles away from Earth to collect a sample of dirt and dust Tuesday night. On Wednesday NASA unveiled videos and images showing the moment the spacecraft pulled off the six-second touch-and-go (TAG) … Read more
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has made a historic touchdown on the asteroid Bennu and collected samples from its surface for several seconds before backing away Tuesday evening. As of 5pm Tuesday EST the spacecraft was activating its sensors and instruments as it further descended into the orbit of the asteroid that contains material from the early … Read more
NASA prepares for historic touchdown on asteroid Bennu with OSIRIS-REX mission where its robotic arm will collect rock samples during brief contact before launching back into space NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is getting ready to reach out its robotic arm and collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu’s surface 200 million miles away from Earth Tuesday evening … Read more
NASA will ‘tag’ the Bennu asteroid later tonight, taking a sample of rock from its boulder-strewn surface and returning it to Earth in about three years. The space agency’s van-sized OSIRIS-REx craft will touch down for a handful of seconds on the space rock following a carefully orchestrated 4.5-hour descent. The spaceship is scheduled to … Read more
Bus-size asteroid is set to pass by Earth at about 93,000 miles TODAY traveling more than 26,000 miles per hour– but experts say it won’t make impact An asteroid that measures the length of a bus is heading towards Earth 2020 TF6 is set to fly pass our planet just about 93,000 feet away Experts … Read more
Bus-size asteroid is set to pass by Earth at about 93,000 miles TODAY traveling more than 26,000 miles per hour– but experts say it won’t make impact An asteroid that measures the length of a bus is heading towards Earth 2020 TF6 is set to fly pass our planet just about 93,000 feet away Experts … Read more
A real-life space oddity: ‘Asteroid’ hurtling towards Earth may be a piece of rocket that was jettisoned during attempted moon landing in 1966 A telescope discovered ‘asteroid 2020 SO’ hurtling towards Earth last month Now scientists believe the object is part of an Atlas Centaur 7 rocket from 1966 The rocket propelled NASA’s Surveyor 2 to … Read more
Asteroid Bennu may contain the building blocks of life within its ‘rubble-pile’ surface, and the body was once part of a much larger, water covered world, scientists claim. NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission will land on Bennu on October 20 to collect samples of the space rock and bring them back to Earth for scientists to study … Read more
Asteroid impact 66 million years ago released aerosols and dust into Earth’s upper atmosphere that blocked the sun and killed the dinosaurs, study reveals Previous work suggests the black carbon that filled the air after an asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago was released by massive wildfires Now, researchers found evidence it was … Read more
NASA spotted pieces of asteroid Vesta ranging in size from five to 14 feet scattered across Bennu’s southern hemisphere and near its center. The boulders were detected in images from the OSIRIS-Rex and appear much brighter than the surrounding area of dark, rich carbon. The team analyzed the chunks using an on-board spectrometer and found … Read more