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by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — NASA’s first-ever mission designed to visit an asteroid and return a sample of its dust back to Earth arrived Monday at its destination, Bennu, two years after launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The $800 million unmanned mission, known as OSIRIS-REx, made a rendez-vous with the asteroid at around 12:10 pm (1710 GMT), firing its engines a final time. “We have arrived,” said Javier Cerna, […]
by Miwa SUZUKI Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese probe launched a new observation robot towards an asteroid on Wednesday as it pursues a mission to shed light on the origins of the solar system. The Hayabusa2 probe launched the French-German Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, or MASCOT, towards the Ryugu asteroid’s surface, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said. “We can confirm that the MASCOT separated from the spacecraft as planned,” the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A pair of robot rovers have landed on an asteroid and begun a survey, Japan’s space agency said Saturday, as it conducts a mission aiming to shed light on the origins of the solar system. The rover mission marks the world’s first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The round, cookie tin-shaped robots successfully reached the Ryugu asteroid a day after they […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — No alien signals have been detected from an interstellar, cigar-shaped space rock discovered travelling through our Solar System in October, researchers listening for evidence of extraterrestrial technology said Thursday. The object, dubbed Oumuamua, was spotted by several Earthly telescopes two months ago. Given its weird trajectory, surprised researchers immediately concluded it was from beyond our planetary system — the first interstellar object ever identified in our midst. The rock is thought […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A rocky cigar-shaped object detected in space last month came from another solar system, astronomers said Monday as they confirmed an unprecedented observation. The discovery may provide clues as to how other solar systems formed, said the researchers, who published their study in the British journal Nature. The asteroid, named Oumuamua by its discoverers, is one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly elongated –perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A house-size asteroid will give Earth a near-miss Thursday, passing harmlessly inside the Moon’s orbit while giving experts a rare chance to rehearse for a real-life strike threat. Dubbed 2012 TC4, the space rock will shave past at an altitude of less than 44,000 kilometres (27,300 miles) — just above the 36,000-km plane at which hundreds of geosynchronous satellites orbit the Earth. That […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — The largest asteroid in more than a century will whiz safely past Earth on September 1 at a safe but unusually close distance of about 4.4 million miles (7 million kilometers), NASA said. The asteroid was discovered in 1981, and is named Florence after the famed 19th century founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. “Florence is the largest asteroid to pass this close to our planet since the first near-Earth […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A house-sized asteroid will shave past our planet on October 12, far inside the Moon’s orbit but without posing any threat, astronomers said Thursday. The space rock will zoom by harmlessly at a distance of about 44,000 kilometers (27,300 miles) — an eighth of the distance from the Earth to the Moon, according to the European Space Agency, This is just far enough to […]
by Valerie DEKIMPE Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A peanut-shaped asteroid 1.3 kilometers (3,280 feet) across streaked past Earth on Wednesday, giving astronomers a rare chance to check out a big space rock up close. But not too close. Dubbed 2014-JO25, the asteroid came nearest at 12:20 GMT and is now hurtling away from the center of our solar system, said Ian Carnelli, an astronomer from the European Space Agency (ESA). “It does […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — An asteroid stretching 650 meters (2,000 feet) across is on track to whoosh past Earth on Wednesday at a safe — but uncomfortably close — distance, according to astronomers. “Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid this size,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement. Dubbed 2014-JO25, the asteroid will come […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — An asteroid as big as the Rock of Gibraltar will streak past Earth on April 19 at a safe but uncomfortably close distance, according to astronomers. “Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid this size,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement. Dubbed 2014-JO25 and roughly 650 meters (2,000 feet) across, the asteroid […]
(Reuters) – A recently discovered asteroid about the size of a house will make a relatively close pass by Earth on Sunday, flying just past the communication satellites that circle the planet, scientists said. NASA said the asteroid, known as 2014 RC, poses no threat, though at its closest approach it will be only about one-tenth the distance to the moon, or roughly 25,000 miles (40,000 km) from Earth. Communications and weather satellites are generally […]
