Bennu

Space is vast and terrifying, but at the same time, it is deeply intriguing and mysterious. Our fascination with space and understanding the origin of the solar system has led scientists to one of its biggest celestial nemeses. Nothing exemplifies this relationship of humans with space better than the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission. This space mission sent an unmanned spacecraft to the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu to collect rock samples and it is now on its way to Earth. Interestingly, there is a big chance that this…

It's been an eventful year for space exploration, with successes including the completion of Nasa's Artemis 1 mission (finally), the inauguration of the James Webb Space Telescope, and the completion of China's Tiangong space station.2023 is set to be another busy year. Here are five of the most exciting missions to watch out for. Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer In April, the European Space Agency (Esa) is set to launch the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), in what will be Europe's first dedicated robotic mission to…

A study claims that in future, humans could live on asteroids by building megacities on these rocks and go ambling around in space. NASA commissioned designs for such megacities. Asteroids have always terrified humans. After all, they were the reason behind one of the biggest known mass extinctions on the planet. And scientists realize that what happened to the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period could one day also happen to humans. That is why NASA recently conducted its Double Asteroid Redirection Test…

According to a new study from physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder, like corn kernels pop in a frying pan, tiny grains of dust may hop around on the surface of asteroids.That popcorn-like effect may even help to tidy up smaller asteroids, causing them to lose dust and look rough and craggy from space.The researchers published their results in the journal Nature Astronomy. Their findings may help scientists better understand how asteroids change shape over time—and how these bodies migrate through space,…

In October 2020, a small spacecraft briefly touched down on an asteroid to snag a piece of it to bringto Earth. Almost two years later, scientists have learned that if the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft had extended its stay even a tiny bit longer, it would have sunk right into the asteroid. That’s because asteroid Bennu is nothing like scientists had predicted. Rather than being a solid, flying rock, Bennu is actually made up of small, pebble-like particles that are not strongly bound together, creating lots of space on its…

In October 2020, NASA’s OSRISIS-REx spacecraft made history by touching down on the asteroid Bennu and grabbing a sample of rock and debris. New analysis of this encounter has revealed the probe was lucky to avoid sinking into the asteroid's surface, which mission scientists have found to be so loosely packed it resembles a pit of plastic balls.This new perspective on the surface composition of Bennu comes via closeup images OSIRIS-REx collected as it snatched its precious sample. Prior laboratory testing had indicated…

Back in 2020, NASA sent a small spacecraft known as OSIRIS-REx to collect samples from the asteroid Bennu. Bennu is one of the most well-known neighboring asteroids to our planet. When OSIRIS-REx went to touch down on Bennu, though, something unexpected happen. Asteroid Bennu just left NASA scientists reeling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42EwbQ3afPA NASA had expected its touch-and-go mission on Bennu to leave the asteroid completely unphased. If anything, a small indent would have been leftover where it…

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft leaving the surface of asteroid Bennu after collecting a sample. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab/SVSScientists have learned something astonishing after analyzing data gathered when <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United…

NASA put an asteroid mission on hold on Friday, blaming the late delivery of its own navigation software. The Psyche mission to a strange metal asteroid of the same name was supposed to launch this September or October. But the agency's Jet Propulsion Lab was several months late delivering its software for navigation, guidance and control — a crucial part of any spacecraft. Engineers “just ran out of time” to test it, officials said Friday.Now, the space agency is going to step back, and an independent review will look at…

Scientists have concluded that the boulder-covered surface of the Asteroid Bennu gives it protection against small meteoroid impacts, through observations using NASA's spacecraft. The Bennu asteroid is a rubber-pile asteroid, which means that it was formed from the remnants of a much larger asteroid. When the asteroid got destroyed by an ancient impact, the collision caused the fragments to combine leading to the formation of Bennu. Scientists have used high-resolution data sets to examine craters on the planet to…