Topic: Near Earth Asteroid

NASA reports large Asteroid 2001 FO32 to safely fly past Earth, March 21st

March 12, 2021 |

Pasadena, CA – The largest asteroid predicted to pass by our planet in 2021 will be at its closest on March 21st, providing astronomers a rare opportunity to get a good look at a rocky relic that formed at the dawn of our solar system.

Called 2001 FO32, the near-Earth asteroid will make its closest approach at a distance of about 1.25 million miles (2 million kilometers) – or 5 1/4 times the distance from Earth to the Moon. There is no threat of a collision with our planet now or for centuries to come.

This diagram depicts the elongated and inclined orbit of 2001 FO32 as it travels around the Sun (white ellipse). Because of this orbit, when the asteroid makes its close approach to Earth, it will be traveling at an unusually fast speed of 77,000 mph (124,000 kph). (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA says Asteroid 1998 OR2 will Fly Past Earth Safely

April 29, 2020 |

Pasadena, CA – A large near-Earth asteroid will safely pass by our planet on Wednesday morning, providing astronomers with an exceptional opportunity to study the 1.5-mile-wide (2-kilometer-wide) object in great detail.

The asteroid, called 1998 OR2, will make its closest approach at 4:55am CDT (2:55am PDT). While this is known as a “close approach” by astronomers, it’s still very far away: The asteroid will get no closer than about 3.9 million miles (6.3 million kilometers), passing more than 16 times farther away than the Moon.

Artist’s concept of a near-Earth object. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA explains why it’s important to study Space Rocks

November 11, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA says the entire history of human existence is a tiny blip in our solar system’s 4.5-billion-year history. No one was around to see planets forming and undergoing dramatic changes before settling in their present configuration. In order to understand what came before us — before life on Earth and before Earth itself — scientists need to hunt for clues to that mysterious distant past.

Those clues come in the form of asteroids, comets and other small objects. Like detectives sifting through forensic evidence, scientists carefully examine these small bodies for insights about our origins.

The small worlds of our solar system help us trace its history and evolution, including comets. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD)

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NASA reports Asteroid 2002 AJ12 to make close approach to Earth February 4th

February 3, 2018 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on February 4th, 2018 at 1:30pm PST (3:30pm CST / 21:30 UTC). At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon (about 2.6 million miles, or 4.2 million kilometers).

2002 AJ129 is an intermediate-sized near-Earth asteroid, somewhere between 0.3 miles (0.5 kilometers) and 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometers) across. It was discovered on January 15th, 2002, by the former NASA-sponsored Near Earth Asteroid Tracking project at the Maui Space Surveillance Site on Haleakala, Hawaii.

Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on Feb. 4, 2018, at 1:30pm PST (3:30pm CST). At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be at a distance of 2.6 million miles, or 4.2 million kilometers — about 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

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NASA reports a Large Asteroid will Pass Safely Pass by Earth on September 1st

August 22, 2017 |

Written by Laurie Cantillo / Dwayne Brown
NASA Headquarters

Washington, D.C. – Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on September 1st, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles, (7.0 million kilometers, or about 18 Earth-Moon distances). Florence is among the largest near-Earth asteroids that are several miles in size; measurements from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and NEOWISE mission indicate it’s about 2.7 miles (4.4 kilometers) in size.

“While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will on September 1st, all of those were estimated to be smaller,” said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on Sept. 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA reports number of known Near-Earth Asteroids now over 15,000

October 29, 2016 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – The number of discovered near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) now tops 15,000, with an average of 30 new discoveries added each week. This milestone marks a 50 percent increase in the number of known NEAs since 2013, when discoveries reached 10,000 in August of that year.

Surveys funded by NASA’s Near Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program (NEOs include both asteroids and comets) account for more than 95 percent of discoveries so far.

The 15,000th near-Earth asteroid is designated 2016 TB57.

The 15,000th near-Earth asteroid discovered is designated 2016 TB57. It was discovered on Oct. 13, 2016, by observers at the Mount Lemmon Survey, an element of the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Arizona. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft ready for Asteroid mission to Bennu

September 6, 2016 |

Written by Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

Florida – The first U.S. mission to travel to an asteroid, retrieve samples and return them to Earth is targeted for a September 8th launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

This groundbreaking mission, several years in the making, is the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer, also known as OSIRIS-REx. It will travel to near-Earth asteroid Bennu, map its surface using 3-D laser imaging, retrieve samples from the surface and return to Earth.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, enclosed in a payload fairing, is lifted Aug. 29 at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that is to lift OSIRIS-REx into space was stacked at SLC-41 so the spacecraft and fairing could be hoisted up and bolted to the rocket. (NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis)

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NASA study will have 4 People living in an Isolated Habitat for 30 Days in preparation for long Space Missions

February 1, 2016 |

NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Houston, TX – 4 people are living in an isolated habitat for 30 days. Why? Science!

This 30 day mission will help our researchers learn how isolation and close quarters affect individual and group behavior. This study at our Johnson Space Center prepares us for long duration space missions, like a trip to an asteroid or even to Mars.

The Human Research Exploration Analog (HERA) that the crew members will be living in is one compact, science-making house.

The Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), formerly known as the Deep Space Habitat, was transferred from the JSC Engineering Directorate to HRP in FY2013. This unique modular three-story habitat was designed and created through a series of university competitions and was previously used in the Desert Research and Technology Studies in the Arizona desert. (Bill Stafford and Robert Markowitz/NASA)

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NASA announces details for its Asteroid Redirect Mission; Next Steps towards Mars

March 28, 2015 |

Written by David E. Steitz
NASA Headquarters

Washington, D.C. – NASA Wednesday announced more details in its plan for its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which in the mid-2020s will test a number of new capabilities needed for future human expeditions to deep space, including to Mars. NASA also announced it has increased the detection of near-Earth Asteroids by 65 percent since launching its asteroid initiative three years ago.

For ARM, a robotic spacecraft will capture a boulder from the surface of a near-Earth asteroid and move it into a stable orbit around the moon for exploration by astronauts, all in support of advancing the nation’s journey to Mars.

The Asteroid Redirect Vehicle, part of NASA’s Asteroid Initiative concept, is shown traveling to lunar orbit using its solar electric propulsion system in this artist’s concept. (NASA)

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NASA uses ground radar to capture images of Asteroid as it passes near Earth

June 13, 2014 |

Written by Preston Dyches
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA scientists using Earth-based radar have produced sharp views of a recently discovered asteroid as it slid silently past our planet. Captured on June 8th, 2014, the new views of the object designated “2014 HQ124” are some of the most detailed radar images of a near-Earth asteroid ever obtained.

The radar observations were led by scientists Marina Brozovic and Lance Benner of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. The JPL researchers worked closely with Michael Nolan, Patrick Taylor, Ellen Howell and Alessondra Springmann at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to plan and execute the observations.

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