Binary asteroids

Fresh off of its first asteroid encounter that revealed a bonus space rock, Lucy is now ready for the big leagues. The NASA spacecraft began maneuvering its way to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, traveling to a farther orbit in deep space in order to reach the Jovian system.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewOn Wednesday, Lucy fired its main engine for the first time in space as the first step in a series of maneuvers to change the velocity of the spacecraft so that it can reach the…

LICIACube image showing the aftermath of the DART impact. The object at top is Dimorphos, while the object in the foreground is Didymos.Image: ASI/NASAThey’re raw and a bit grainy, but LICIACube’s first batch of images have arrived, showing the immediate effects of the DART spacecraft crashing into Dimorphos. The 31-pound (14-kilogram) LICIACube (pronounced LEE-cha-cube) was trailing behind DART at the time of impact, having been dispatched by the NASA spacecraft two weeks ago. The probe has two optical cameras, LUKE and…

Artist’s conception of the DART mission. Image: NASAOn Monday, NASA will attempt to smash its car-sized DART spacecraft into a non-threatening asteroid, in what is an important first test of a planetary defense strategy against hazardouscelestial objects. A host of telescopes will be watching, including the Hubble and Webb space telescopes.“We are moving an asteroid,” Tom Statler, DART program scientist, told reporters yesterday at a NASA press briefing. “We’ve never done that before,” he added, saying “it’s kind of…