Tag: Asteroids
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Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe releases ‘bomb’ at asteroid
Artist’s illustration of Hayabusa 2’s impactor experiment. Credit: JAXA Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft dropped an explosive charge on asteroid Ryugu on Thursday night in an audacious attempt to carve a crater on the object, exposing pristine underground rocks to be retrieved by the probe for return to Earth. Six weeks after snagging a sample from…
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Surprise! NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe catches asteroid spewing bits into space
This view of asteroid Bennu ejecting particles from its surface on Jan. 19 was created by combining two images taken by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Other image processing techniques were applied, such as cropping and adjusting the brightness and contrast of each image. (NASA / Goddard / Univ. of Arizona / Lockheed Martin Photo) NASA’s OSIRIS-REx…
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft finds particles flying off asteroid Bennu
The navigation camera on NASA’s robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft detected material streaming away from asteroid Bennu in this images taken Jan. 19. This view combines two images, one taken at a short exposure to resolve Bennu’s surface, and another at a longer exposure, revealing bright star-like dots, the material streaming away from the asteroid. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University…
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Hayabusa 2’s asteroid touch-and-go comes to life in dramatic new video
A camera riding on Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft recorded stunning views of the probe’s final descent to asteroid Ryugu last month, showing the rocky debris kicked up by the robot explorer’s touch-and-go landing to collect a sample for return to Earth. The on-board camera observed Hayabusa 2’s sampling horn contact Ryugu’s gravelly surface Feb. 21,…
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Watch Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe blast away a blizzard of rocks from an asteroid
If there was ever any doubt that Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft was able to get access to samples from an asteroid called Ryugu last month, a video released today should put those doubts to rest. The black-and-white video clip, shot by the probe’s CAM-H monitoring camera, shows the sampling horn being lowered to the sunlit…
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Japanese probe lands on asteroid to capture sample
Moments after landing on asteroid Ryugu, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 captured this view of its landing zone from a distance of about 100 feet (30 meters), showing the probe’s shadow and markings left on the surface, likely from the spacecraft’s thruster jets firing to begin its ascent. Credit: JAXA Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft briefly landed on…
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Japan’s Hayabusa 2 team says spacecraft touches down on asteroid to grab sample
An image captured just after the Hayabusa 2’s touchdown on asteroid Ryugu shows the H-shaped shadow of the spacecraft and its solar panels. The dark splotch represents material disturbed by the sample collection operation. (JAXA Photo via Twitter) Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft successfully touched down today on asteroid Ryugu, more than 200 million miles from…
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SpaceX files protest of NASA’s Lucy launch contract awarded to ULA
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket inside the company’s hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett SpaceX has filed a protest challenging a nearly $150 million NASA contract awarded to United Launch Alliance last month to send a robotic asteroid probe into space. The protest submitted to the Government…
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ULA wins contract to launch NASA’s Lucy mission to visit unexplored asteroids
File photo of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5-401 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral. Credit: United Launch Alliance NASA has selected United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket to dispatch the Lucy spacecraft on a mission from Cape Canaveral in October 2021 to fly by seven unexplored asteroids, including six objects locked in orbits leading…
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ULA wins contract to launch NASA’s Lucy mission to visit unexplored asteroids
File photo of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5-401 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral. Credit: United Launch Alliance NASA has selected United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket to dispatch the Lucy spacecraft on a mission from Cape Canaveral in October 2021 to fly by seven unexplored asteroids, including six objects locked in orbits leading…