Asteroids

Advisory Team Suggests NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission Needs Some Recon

Advisory Team Suggests NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission Needs Some Recon

For many of who take pride in NASA, it is embarrassing enough that the agency which once went to the Moon, and now says it is on a “Journey to Mars” has as its only defined human exploration goal, the Asteroid Redirect Mission. ARM’s objective, radically reduced from the original 2010 proposal of sending astronauts to […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA
Aiming for Armageddon:  Russia Scientists Want to Shoot Asteroid Apophis in 2029

Aiming for Armageddon: Russia Scientists Want to Shoot Asteroid Apophis in 2029

Apparently some Russian scientists have been watching the SYFY channel’s horrendous Saturday night movies, and would like to make their own contribution to the “What could possibly go wrong? ” category. From TASS: “Russian scientists have developed a project of upgrading intercontinental ballistic missiles to destroy near-Earth meteorites 20-50 meters in size, leading researcher of […]

Posted in: Asteroids
Dawn Imagery Soaring Over Ceres

Dawn Imagery Soaring Over Ceres

  From NASA: “The movie shows Ceres in enhanced color, which helps to highlight subtle differences in the appearance of surface materials. Scientists believe areas with shades of blue contain younger, fresher material, including flows, pits and cracks. The animated flight over Ceres emphasizes the most prominent craters, such as Occator, and the tall, conical mountain […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA
Whistling Past the Graveyard of Asteroid Detection

Whistling Past the Graveyard of Asteroid Detection

Early last week, news media reported that NASA has terminated its Space Act Agreement with the B612 Foundation due its failure to meet specified milestones, namely beginning development of the $350-$450 million Sentinel mission. B612 was founded by former astronauts Ed Lu and Rusty Schweickert, for the purpose of raising awareness about asteroid defense by funding […]

Dawn Images “Lonely Mountain” From New Orbit at Ceres

Dawn Images “Lonely Mountain” From New Orbit at Ceres

(Full image here) NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has arrived at its new mapping orbit, and is beginning to send back spectacular images of the dwarf planet’s surface in rich detail. From JPL: “At its current orbital altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers), Dawn takes 11 days to capture and return images of Ceres’ whole surface. Each […]

Posted in: Asteroids, Space Science
At Ceres, NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Spirals Closer for a Summer Finale

At Ceres, NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Spirals Closer for a Summer Finale

Topographic map of Ceres. Purple is low, red is high.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA   As  July draws to a close and August begins, the cycle of the seasons can seem to be advancing quicker than ever. Even with some of the hottest weeks yet come, and Labor Day more than a full month away, the prevalence […]

Posted in: Asteroids, Outer Planets
Dawn Spacecraft Finds Mysterious “Lonely Mountain” on Ceres

Dawn Spacecraft Finds Mysterious “Lonely Mountain” on Ceres

Image Credit NASA/JPL While much of the space science community is anxiously awaiting the July 14th flyby of the New Horizons probe at the system headlined by former planet Pluto, a much more accessible dwarf planet, Ceres seems determined to keep its own place in the spotlight. In addition to the growing number of mysterious […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA
Imaging Icy Worlds: Dawn, Cassini and New Horizons Promise a Hot Summer

Imaging Icy Worlds: Dawn, Cassini and New Horizons Promise a Hot Summer

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute 2015 is shaping up as a banner year for imaging icy worlds.  The ion powered Dawn probe arrived at the Dwarf planet Ceres in the Main Asteroid Belt on March 6th, and is currently on that world’s shadowed side, still firing its engines as it seeks a circular science orbit […]

Posted in: Asteroids, Outer Planets
NASA Announces Option B (Or is it Plan 9)? From Outer Space

NASA Announces Option B (Or is it Plan 9)? From Outer Space

On Wednesday, March 25, NASA announced that it had reached a decision regarding which option the agency is to pursue as part of its Asteroid Redirect Mission, or ARM. In what came as no great surprise to those who have been following the space agency’s painful struggle to come up with an achievable mission plausibly […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA
Dawn Enters Orbit at Dwarf Planet Ceres

Dawn Enters Orbit at Dwarf Planet Ceres

Image of Ceres Taken on March 1st : Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA From NASA.gov: “NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has become the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet. The spacecraft was approximately 38,000 miles (61,000) kilometers from Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity at about 4:39 a.m. PST (7:39 a.m. EST) […]

Posted in: Asteroids
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