Last year, astronomers detected the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2024 YR4 that orbits the Sun every four years and periodically crosses Earth’s orbit. The nature of its orbit makes it a Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO), meaning it could pose a collision risk with Earth someday. Recently, refined estimates of its orbit have ruled out the possibility … Read more
Back to Article List Although classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid, Bennu probably won’t hit Earth. But this study shows the damage a mid-sized space rock of its kind could do. Asteroid Bennu is a rubble pile-type asteroid that was visited by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which took the images used in this composite photo. Credit: … Read more
Carlos Villagomez owns a golf ball that he believes was flown to the moon. If indeed it was, he may also hold the answer to a more than 50-year-old bit of trivia that otherwise may be forever lost to time. Villagomez was gifted the ball by Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut to fly into … Read more
What if Bennu hit Earth? The asteroid has a 1-in-2,700 chance of hitting our planet in 2182. On February 5, 2025, scientists in South Korea said they’ve simulated what might happen to Earth if we end up on the losing side of those odds. Image via Myshoun/ Pixabay. What if Bennu hit Earth? Asteroid Bennu … Read more
A rock from space slammed into Mars in February 2021, causing seismic waves that reached NASA’s InSight spacecraft, located 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away. The impact left a 70-foot (21-meter) diameter crater and dented an area nearly a mile wide (1,600 meters). ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), using its Color and Stereo Surface Imaging … Read more