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☆ A spacecraft is on its way to an asteroid that NASA slammed in an earlier save-the-Earth test
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft rocketed away on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA two years ago in a dress rehearsal for the day a killer space rock threatens Earth. Launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral, it’s the second part of a planetary defense test that could one day help save the planet. The 2022 crash by NASA’s Dart spacecraft shortened Dimorphos’ orbit around its bigger companion, demonstrating that if a dangerous rock was headed our way, there’s a chance it could be knocked off course with enough advance notice. Researchers want to know whether Dart — short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test — left a crater or perhaps reshaped the 500-foot (150-meter) asteroid more dramatically. ESA’s Hera mission lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday at 10:52am.

Persons: there’s, Dart, Derek Richardson, Richardson, ESA Dart’s wallop, Hera, Ignacio Tanco, ”, “, Ian Carnelli, It’s Organizations: NASA, SpaceX, NASA’s, ” University of Maryland, Cape Canaveral Space Force, ESA Locations: Cape Canaveral, Cape, Florida, Dimorphos, Darmstadt, Germany, Didymos

☆ Hera mission will launch to explore asteroid system intentionally hit by NASA DART spacecraft
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —A European spacecraft and two shoebox-size satellites are about to launch to survey the aftermath from NASA’s DART mission, which intentionally slammed into an asteroid named Dimorphos and altered its orbit two years ago. The European Space Agency’s Hera mission is expected to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 10:52 a.m. The spacecraft and its two CubeSat companions are slated to arrive at the asteroid Dimorphos, and the larger asteroid it orbits named Didymos, in late 2026. NASA planned the DART, or Double Asteroid Redirection Test, mission to carry out a full-scale assessment of asteroid deflection technology on behalf of planetary defense. But many questions remain, including whether the DART spacecraft merely left behind a crater or if its momentum completely reshaped Dimorphos.

Persons: NASA’s, Hera doesn’t, ”, Patrick Michel, Hera, Berthier, Santana, Ros, Petrescu, Micheli, Milani, Andrea Milani, Michel said, Dimorphos, Michel, DRACO, ” Michel Organizations: CNN, SpaceX, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, ESA, NASA, DART, National Centre for Scientific Research, Les, Italy’s University of Pisa, Science Locations: Florida, France, La Réunion, Dimorphos, Giza, Mars, Didymos

☆ When a cruise liner-size asteroid zips by Earth, two spacecraft may follow it
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —When a cruise liner-size asteroid comes within 19,883 miles (32,000 kilometers) of Earth on April 13, 2029, it won’t be alone. The European Space Agency has announced that its new Ramses spacecraft may accompany the asteroid Apophis before and after its safe, albeit rather close, pass of Earth. Astronomers think that an asteroid this large comes within such proximity to Earth only once every 5,000 to 10,000 years. In September 2022, NASA’s DART mission intentionally slammed a spacecraft into Dimorphos, a moonlet asteroid that orbits a larger parent asteroid known as Didymos. “The Ramses mission concept reuses much of the technology, expertise and industrial and science communities developed for the Hera mission,” said Paolo Martino, spacecraft manager for Hera who will also work on the Ramses mission, in a statement.

Persons: won’t, Ramses, Apophis, Apophis doesn’t, ”, Patrick Michel, ” Michel, Richard Moissl, NASA’s, OSIRIS, REx, “ Apophis, Hera, Paolo Martino, “ Hera Organizations: CNN, European Space Agency, NASA’s Center, Studies, ESA, NASA, System, National Centre for Scientific Research, NSF, JPL, Caltech, ESA’s Planetary Defence Office, APEX Locations: Europe, Africa, Asia, Apophis, France

☆ New images reveal tiny moon around asteroid as it flies by Earth
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Spotting a tiny moonThe first space rock, asteroid 2011 UL21, passed by Earth on June 27 at a distance of 4.1 million miles (6.6 million kilometers), or 17 times the distance between Earth and the moon. The radar images showed the asteroid is roughly spherical and is one of a pair, called a binary system. NASA/JPL-CaltechThe Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, at Sutherland Observing Station in South Africa first spotted the space rock on June 16. Astronomers sent radio waves to the space rock and captured a detailed image of asteroid 2024 MK. As the space rock passed by our planet and encountered Earth’s gravity, its orbit changed.

Persons: ”, Lance Benner, don’t, ” Benner Organizations: CNN, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Space Network, Earth, Catalina Sky Survey, JPL, Caltech, Lucy, Asteroid, Astronomers Locations: Pasadena , California, Tucson , Arizona, Barstow , California, Sutherland, South Africa

☆ NASA Lucy mission: A space rock got a moon after sun-driven quake
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Astronomers were in for a surprise when NASA’s Lucy mission flew by an asteroid named Dinkinesh in November and spotted a contact binary — two smaller space rocks that touch each other — orbiting the asteroid like a moon. “Basically, the planets formed when zillions of smaller objects orbiting the Sun, like asteroids, ran into each other. The Lucy mission captured additional imagery revealing that the asteroid Dinkinesh’s moon is actually two space rocks that are touching one another. Too distant to be seen in detail with telescopes, the asteroids will get their close-up when Lucy reaches the Trojans in 2027. The mission borrows its name from the Lucy fossil, the remains of an ancient human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in 1974.

Persons: NASA’s Lucy, Dinky ”, ”, Hal Levison, Lucy, Dinkinesh, Goddard, Johns Hopkins, Keith Noll, Jessica Sunshine, ” Levison, Sunshine, Selam, “ I’m, “, NASA Galileo, Ida, Lucy’s, NASA Lucy, ” Sunshine, Dinky Organizations: CNN —, Southwest Research, NASA, Goddard Space Flight, University of Maryland, College Locations: Boulder , Colorado, Greenbelt , Maryland, Dinkinesh, Ethiopia, Jupiter

☆ Fungi mystery: Amphibian found with mushroom growing from its body
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But a newly described mystery involving a mushroom and a frog suggests that fungi’s role in the environment is anything but black-and-white. Once upon a planetA golden-backed frog is seen with a small mushroom (right) growing out of its body. Elsewhere in our solar system, space scientists have spotted three faint and tiny moons orbiting the outermost planets in the Milky Way: Uranus and Neptune. — A dead star that feasted on a planet once in its orbit could foretell the eventual fate of our own solar system. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Lohit, Dimorphos, ”, Dr, Sabina Raducan, it’s, Ralf Britz, Britz, Here’s, Odysseus, Odie, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, DART, University of Bern’s Physics, CNN Space, Science Locations: Indian, Karnataka, Dimorphos, Switzerland, Myanmar, Dresden, Germany, Roman Britain, United States

☆ NASA’s DART mission: Spacecraft impact reshaped Dimorphos asteroid
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —When NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft intentionally slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022, the impact may have caused “global deformation” of the space rock, according to new research. Dimorphos is a moonlet asteroid that orbits a larger parent asteroid known as Didymos. The DART mission ended upon impact, but prior to colliding with Dimorphos, the spacecraft transmitted an incredibly detailed view of the little asteroid’s boulder-covered surface that is helping researchers learn more about how the space rock formed. Rather than forming a simple crater on Dimorphos, the DART impact reshaped the entire asteroid, the results have suggested. Recreating the DART impactA team of researchers modeled the impact using the Bern smoothed-particle hydrodynamics shock physics code to achieve their results.

Persons: Dimorphos, It’s, ”, Dr, Sabina Raducan, Japan’s, ” Raducan, Martin Jutzi, Hera, Raducan, Sir Brian May, Claudia Manzoni Organizations: CNN, DART, Dimorphos, University of Bern’s Physics Locations: Italian, Dimorphos, Bern, Switzerland

☆ NASA mission captures image of surprising asteroid pair
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —When NASA’s Lucy mission flew by its first asteroid this week, its cameras captured a surprise. The Lucy spacecraft zoomed by the small asteroid Dinkinesh, located in our solar system’s main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. (Lockheed Martin is a NASA partner on the Lucy mission.) Preparing for future flybysThe data collected during the Lucy mission flyby will continue to return to Earth over the next week. There are about 7,000 Trojan asteroids, and the largest is 160 miles (257 kilometers) across.

Persons: Lucy, Hal Levison, “, ” Levison, we’ve, ”, Tom Kennedy, Lockheed Martin, ” Kennedy, Keith Noll, NASA’s, Lucy’s, NASA Lucy Organizations: CNN, Southwest Research Institute, ”, Lockheed, NASA, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Locations: Ethiopia, Greenbelt , Maryland, Jupiter

☆ Adam Driver asked NASA how it plans to save Earth from world-ending asteroids
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Don't worry about such a large asteroid — an extinction-level space rock — approaching Earth anytime soon, NASA astronomer Kelly Fast was quick to clarify. NASA is studying and tracking down near-Earth asteroidsFast added that NASA's approach to any asteroid would depend on the asteroid's size and composition. Another NASA mission, called Osiris-Rex, landed on the surface of an asteroid in 2020 and scooped up its rocky space dust. Even though Driver and Fast didn't discuss that mission, the actor seemed impressed with NASA's efforts. "Thank you for your work in keeping the planet safe from world-ending asteroids plummeting into our planet," Driver said.

☆ Studies show how asteroid-bashing spacecraft was 'phenomenally successful'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] This image depicts NASA's DART spacecraft and its two long solar panels over the spot where it impacted asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022. "The DART test was phenomenally successful. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided on Sept. 26 at about 14,000 miles per hour (22,530 kph) into Dimorphos, an asteroid about 490 feet (150 meters) in diameter, roughly 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth. Finally, the spacecraft bus - the box between the solar panels - hit between these two boulders," Daly said. The research also clarified details such as the precise location of the impact and the angle of impact.

☆ The asteroid NASA crashed into looks like a comet now, with a forked tail, Hubble image reveals
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a comet-like forked tail streaming from the asteroid Dimorphos. NASA's DART spacecraft slammed into the asteroid in September, as practice for saving Earth. In fact, it kind of looks like a comet now, NASA discovered when the Hubble Space Telescope snapped a new image of the distant space rock. So on September 26, the DART spacecraft slammed into Dimorphos, pushing it slightly closer to the larger asteroid it's orbiting, called Didymos. Telescopes across the planet and throughout Earth's orbit, including the new James Webb Space Telescope, are watching the asteroid closely.

☆ In its first 100 days, the James Webb telescope peered deep into space, took beauty shots of faraway galaxies and glittering nebula, and saw a spacecraft slam into an asteroid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In its first 100 days of observation, Webb has captured mind-blowing images, reaching astonishing cosmic distances. Webb captured violent interactions in a star system more than 5,000 light years awayWebb captured a series of 17 concentric dust rings spawned by the Wolf-Rayet 140 binary system. Webb took a 'deep field' image that filled astronomers with wonderThe James Webb Space Telescope's first deep field infrared image, released on July 11, 2022. Webb captured detailed views of the king of our solar system – JupiterWide-field view of Jupiter, captured by Webb. Webb snapped a beauty shot of the Carina NebulaThe star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, captured in infrared by Webb.

☆ NASA’s Asteroid-Smashing DART Mission Deemed a Success
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Aylin Woodward | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The first mission to test a technology that one day might protect Earth from a catastrophic asteroid impact achieved its goal on Sept. 26, when a fast-moving spacecraft smashed into and changed the trajectory of a distant space rock, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Tuesday. NASA said the intentional collision between its uncrewed spacecraft and the 525-foot-wide asteroid, called Dimorphos, successfully shifted the asteroid’s orbit around a larger asteroid called Didymos.

☆ NASA says DART mission succeeded in altering asteroid's trajectory
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft prior to impact at the Didymos binary asteroid system showed in this undated illustration handout. "This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and a watershed moment for humanity," NASA chief Bill Nelson told reporters in announcing the results. Findings of telescope observations unveiled at a NASA news briefing showed that the suicide test flight of the DART spacecraft on Sept. 26 achieved its primary objective: changing the direction of an asteroid through sheer kinetic force. Neither of the two asteroids involved in the test, nor DART, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, posed any threat to Earth, NASA scientists said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ NASA's first planetary defense test worked, successfully redirecting an asteroid by crashing the DART spacecraft into it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA confirmed Tuesday that its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) moved an asteroid. The DART spacecraft slammed into a space rock and changed its orbit around a larger rock by 32 minutes. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft slammed into an asteroid called Dimorphos on September 26, pushing it slightly closer to its giant parent asteroid, Didymos. As far as NASA knows, no such space rock is currently on a collision course with Earth, at least for the next 100 years. Screenshots of the footage from DART's camera as the spacecraft approached, then smashed into the rock, on September 26, 2022.

☆ Telescopes and satellites captured clouds and spider-like plumes of debris after NASA smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NASA's DART spacecraft successfully crashed into an asteroid on Monday night. The spacecraft took images of its impending doom until the very end, when it rammed into the targeted space rock: Dimorphos. LICIACube image showing the dusty aftermath of the DART impact. ASI/NASAThe tiny Italian satellite captured spider-like plumes of debris emanating from the targeted space rock, below. About three minutes post-crash, LICIACube flew within 35 miles of the asteroid Dimorphos, to survey the collision's aftermath.

☆ See video of the moment NASA's DART spacecraft crashed itself into an asteroid and its livestream cut out
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA crashed a space probe into an asteroid on Monday night, practicing to deflect dangerous space rocks. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) hit the space rock in an effort to change its orbit. Watch the DART spacecraft's final moments in the footage from its camera, below. As NASA planned, DART crashed into the craggy surface and its camera feed died. Astronomers are poised to point their telescopes to Dimorphos as it continues to orbit a much larger asteroid called Didymos.

A DART view of the Dimorphos asteroid right before impact. NASA via YouTubeThe DART spacecraft, which is about the size of a vending machine, crashed into Dimorphos at 7:14 p.m. "Oh my goodness," said Elena Adams, a DART mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The DART mission is functioning as a proof of concept of asteroid deflection as a planetary defense strategy. Betts said he hopes the DART mission will continue to raise awareness about the importance of planetary defense.

☆ NASA crashes DART spacecraft into an asteroid, testing a tactic to bump space rocks away from Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

NASA's 1,376-pound probe traveled about 6.8 million miles before crashing into the asteroid, as part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. Scientists will be monitoring the trajectory of the asteroid, Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid, Didymos. As the DART spacecraft flew closer, Dimorphos emerged as a separate point of light that grew larger and brighter. NASABelow, one of the last frames beamed at Earth from DRACO before the DART spacecraft ate it, showing several boulders on the asteroid surface. The DART mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory erupted in applause after the probe's successful demise.

☆ NASA's asteroid-deflecting DART spacecraft nears planned impact with its target
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft prior to impact at the Didymos binary asteroid system showed in this undated illustration handout. NASA/Johns Hopkins/Handout via REUTERSSept 26 (Reuters) - Ten months after launch, NASA's asteroid-deflecting DART spacecraft neared a planned impact with its target on Monday in a test of the world's first planetary defense system, designed to prevent a doomsday collision with Earth. Neither object presents any actual threat to Earth, and NASA scientists said their DART test cannot create a new existential hazard by mistake. Also, their relative proximity to Earth and dual-asteroid configuration make them ideal for the first proof-of-concept mission of DART, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. ROBOTIC SUICIDE MISSIONThe mission represents a rare instance in which a NASA spacecraft must ultimately crash to succeed.

☆ NASA spacecraft closes in on asteroid for head-on collision
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A NASA spacecraft closed in on an asteroid at blistering speed Monday in an unprecedented dress rehearsal for the day a killer rock menaces Earth. The galactic grand slam was set to occur at a harmless asteroid 7 million miles (9.6 million kilometers) away, with the spacecraft named Dart plowing into the rock at 14,000 mph (22,500 kph). The $325 million mission is the first attempt to shift the position of an asteroid or any other natural object in space. The spacecraft packed a scant 1,260 pounds (570 kilograms), compared with the asteroid's 11 billion pounds (5 billion kilograms). Monday's dramatic action aside, the world must do a better job of identifying the countless space rocks lurking out there, warned the foundation's executive director, Ed Lu, a former astronaut.

The mission, known as DART, or the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, will attempt a method of planetary defense that could save Earth from an asteroid on a potential collision course with the planet. On Monday, the spacecraft will crash into Dimorphos at a blistering speed of around 4 miles per second, or 15,000 mph. Ground-based telescopes will be used to time Dimorphos' orbit and determine whether the mission was a success. The Applied Physics Lab built and manages the $325 million DART mission for NASA. Even if the DART mission fails, scientists will learn a lot from the experiment, said Andrea Riley, a program executive in NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

☆ Don’t look up: Close encounters of the disaster movie kind
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Gene Seymour | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The latter movie, whose threat was, as with “Don’t Look Up,” a comet, was a more earnest, conscientiously assembled and far less flustered variation on this theme. By the way, I bet you’re wondering whether a feature-length “Chicken Little” movie was ever made. All I’ll say here is that it sounds a lot more interesting than the movie turned out to be. The title character in 2005's animated "Chicken Little" faces ridicule after warning that the sky is falling. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the movies will altogether abandon “Chicken Little” themes.

☆ NASA's unprecedented DART mission will intentionally slam a spacecraft into an asteroid next week
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test will collide with an asteroid on September 26. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 in November 2021, with the aim of nudging a space rock into a slightly tighter orbit around its companion asteroid. The $308 million spacecraft traveled 6.8 million miles from Earth to Dimorphos, a small asteroid orbiting the asteroid Didymos. NASA JPL DART Navigation TeamOn Monday, September 26, four hours before impact, DART will switch into autonomous mode, steering itself toward its target. An animation from behind as NASA's first planetary defense test mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, collides with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos.

☆ The asteroid NASA is about to strike poses no threat to Earth, but 60% of city-killer rocks fly under the radar
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is aiming for an asteroid called Dimorphos, which is orbiting a giant asteroid called Didymos. To date, scientists have only identified 40% of city-killer asteroids orbiting near Earth, NASA estimates. Mainzer has been working on a space telescope called Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, which is designed to fulfill that goal. The asteroid-spying telescope got a huge budgetary boost in 2022An artist's concept of the NEO Surveyor space telescope. If the DART impact goes according to plan on Monday, NASA will be better equipped to divert any Earth-bound asteroid NEO Surveyor might discover.

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