NASA tracked two near-Earth asteroids, gathering vital data on their trajectories and physical characteristics using radar technology that supports ongoing planetary defense efforts. (Artistic concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com Deep Space Network’s Goldstone planetary radar had a busy few days observing asteroids 2024 MK and 2011 UL21 as they safely passed by Earth. Researchers at NASA‘s Jet … Read more
NASA has captured photos and videos of the two massive asteroids that passed by our planet a few weeks ago. The two asteroids, 2011 UL21 and 2024 MK, passed by Earth on June 27 and 29 respectively and were captured by NASA’s Deep Space Network’s Goldstone planetary radar. While 2011 UL21 flew past us at … Read more
NASA’s Goldstone planetary radar system recently detected two near-Earth asteroids, 2024 MK and 2011 UL21, flying past our planet. Perhaps a little alarmingly, one was only discovered 13 days ago before safely bypassing Soilbut scientists at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California assure that it never posed a threat. Still, the images they … Read more
Last week, Earth was treated to a rare event: not one, but two large asteroids passing within earshot. Neither 2024 MK nor 2011 UL21, as the asteroids are known, came close enough to pose a threat, but both were within range of radar systems, so NASA got a few happy snapshots to mark the occasion. … Read more
A giant NASA radar in the remote Mojave Desert captured images of several impressive asteroids, including a mile-wide behemoth, as they passed near our planet. Fortunately, there are no known asteroids that could potentially hit Earth for more than a century, and the chance of an impact from the largest class of asteroids (like the … Read more
The Goldstone Solar System Radar, part of NASA’s Deep Space Network, made these observations of the recently discovered 150-meter-wide asteroid 2024 MK, which made its closest approach — within about 295,000 kilometers of Earth — on June 29. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Deep Space Network’s Goldstone planetary radar had a busy few days observing asteroids 2024 MK … Read more
The Fifth Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise focused on an asteroid impact scenario designed by NASA JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. It is highly unlikely that a large asteroid will hit Earth in the near future. But because the damage from such an event could be extensive, NASA conducts hypothetical asteroid impact “tabletop” … Read more
NASA’s first asteroid sample is the most pristine sample of its kind. Now, back on Earth, the sample from the asteroid Bennu has already yielded surprising discoveries about the early solar system and the asteroid’s possible origins. After a seven-year journey to the asteroid Bennu and back, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft last year returned a sample … Read more
Meteorite impacts on Mars are up to 10 times more common than previously estimated, according to two new research papers. These describe the seismic shock waves from these impacts, which were detected by NASA’s now defunct Mars InSight lander. The new rate is staggering. The findings suggest that between 180 and 260 impacts occur on … Read more
This week, two asteroids – one big enough to destroy a city, and the other so big it could end civilization – will fly near our planet. Do not panic. Both have a zero percent chance of impacting Earth. And depending on where you are in the world, you might even see one. The larger … Read more