asteroid | Common News Update

Apr62021 by adminNo Comments

NASA puts final pieces together for Psyche metal asteroid mission

Science

ORLANDO, Fla., April 6 (UPI) -- NASA's Psyche asteroid spacecraft is coming together on schedule in California for an August 2022 launch from Florida to explore the giant hunk of metal that circles the sun between Mars and Jupiter. The space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena took delivery of the main body of the spacecraft, or chassis, in March and started assembly work, Robert Mase, deputy project manager for the nearly $ 1 billion mission, told UPI via email. Advertisement "The next big milestone comes when it ships to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in spring 2022," Mase said. Technicians and engineers now will begin final assembly, he said. That includes outfitting the craft with the sensors needed to analyze the metal space object, including a variety of imaging equipment t...

Apr22021 by adminNo Comments

Dinosaur-killing asteroid strike gave rise to Amazon rainforest

Science

SPLThe asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs gave birth to our planet's tropical rainforests, a study suggests.Researchers used fossil pollen and leaves from Colombia to investigate how the impact changed South American tropical forests.After the 12km-wide space rock struck Earth 66 million years ago, the type of vegetation that made up these forests changed drastically.The team has outlined its findings in the prestigious journal Science.Co-author Dr Mónica Carvalho, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution in Panama, said: "Our team examined over 50,000 fossil pollen records and more than 6,000 leaf fossils from before and after the impact."They found that cone-bearing plants called conifers and ferns were common before the huge asteroid struck what is now the Yucatan P...

Dec252020 by adminNo Comments

Marsquakes, water on other planets, asteroid hunting highlight 2020 in space

Science

Dec. 25 (UPI) -- In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic demanded the attention of thousands of scientists, but they had a lot to look in to, including vaccines and treatments for the novel coronavirus. But not all science remained earthbound. Advertisement Many scientists kept their attention on the skies, searching for answers to cosmic mysteries and preparing for the next chapter in the history of human spaceflight. Here are five of the most astounding space-related scientific breakthroughs and discoveries made over the last 12 months. These discoveries have set the stage for even more compelling advances in the year ahead -- a year during which NASA hopes to fly a helicopter on Mars and send its first Artemis test flights to the moon. Hottest picture in space While scientists have insight into...

Dec62020 by adminNo Comments

Japan’s capsule with asteroid samples retrieved in Australia

Technology

A Japanese capsule carrying the first samples of asteroid subsurface shot across the night atmosphere before successfully landing in the remote Australian Outback, completing a mission to provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on EarthBy MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated PressDecember 6, 2020, 5:15 AM• 5 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleTOKYO -- A Japanese capsule carrying the first samples of asteroid subsurface shot across the night atmosphere early Sunday before successfully landing in the remote Australian Outback, completing a mission to provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.The spacecraft Hayabusa2 released the small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid. At about 10 kilo...

Dec52020 by adminNo Comments

Asteroid capsule located in Australian desert

Science

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