Asteroids

Small Asteroid 2016 HO3 is a Quasi-Satellite of Earth
Small asteroid 2016 HO3 is a recently discovered asteroid that orbit that Earth and the sun. (June 17, 2016)

NASA Mission to Sample Asteroid Set for September Launch
NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to take a sample from an asteroid in September. The spacecraft that will be used is called OSIRIS-REx (May 23, 2016)

NASA Opens New Planetary Defense Coordination Office
NASA has opened its Planetary Defense Coordination Office. The PDCO is the formalized name for NASA's ongoing program for detecting NEOs. (January 13, 2016)

NASA Shares Images of Asteroid Dubbed Space Peanut
NASA has shared images of a two lobed asteroid dubbed a space peanut by NASA. The asteroid is 230 feet wide. (August 2, 2015)

NASA Says Recently Discovered 400-Meter Near-Earth Asteroid is Not a Threat
NASA says a recently discovered 400-meter asteroid, Asteroid 2014 UR116, is not a threat to Earth. (December 10, 2014)

NASA Shares Radar Observations of Asteroid 2014 HQ124
NASA shares radar observations of Asteroid 2014 HQ124, which was 776,000 miles from Earth during its closest approach. (June 16, 2014)

Vitamin B3 May Have Been Delivered to Earth by Meteorites
NASA-funded researchers say vitamin B3 may have been made in space and delivered to Earth by meteorites. (April 25, 2014)

CTBTO Has Detected 26 Major Asteroid Impacts in Earth's Atmosphere Since 2000
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization detected dozens of major asteroid impacts in the Earth's atmosphere since 2000. (April 22, 2014)

Plant Biodata Found Stored in Impact Glass From Asteroid and Comet Impacts
Plant biodata has been found stored in impact glass from asteroid and comet impacts from millions of years ago. (April 20, 2014)

NASA Begins Construction on Spacecraft That Will Take Sample From Asteroid in 2018
NASA has started building the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that will viisit the asteroid Bennu in 2018 and return with a sample. (April 13, 2014)

NASA Video Explains New Year's Asteroid Strike
NASA describes the New Year's asteroid strike, 2014 AA. The asteroid was about the size of a compact car. (January 17, 2014)

Uranus has a Trojan Companion
Astronomers say Uranus has a Trojan companion. Trojans are asteroids that share the orbit of a planet. (August 29, 2013)

NASA Announces Discovery of Ten Thousandth Near-Earth Object
NASA announced the discovery of the ten thousandth near-earth object in Space. Asteroid 2013 MZ5 is number 10,000. (June 24, 2013)

NASA Releases Animation of Asteroid Capture Mission
NASA released this animation that shows what its mission to capture an asteroid and redirect it to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system would look like. (April 11, 2013)

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Russian Meteor Strike
A meteor hit Russia's Chelyabinsk region early this morning injuring 500 people. (February 15, 2013)

Deep Space Industries Unveils Plans to Examine and Mine Asteroids
Deep Space Industries has unveiled plans to examine and mine asteroids to harvest raw materials. Here are some highlights of the company's plans. (January 22, 2013)

NASA Says Asteroid Apophis Won't Impact Earth in 2036
NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that they have ruled out the possibility the asteroid Apophis will impact Earth during a close flyby in 2036. (January 12, 2013)

Russian Asteroid Crater Contains Trillions of Carats Worth of Diamonds Say Russians
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Russia recently declassified news that it has an asteroid crater with trillions of carats worth of diamonds in it. (September 18, 2012)

B612 Foundation Plans to Launch Space Telescope to Track Asteroids
The B612 Foundation plans to build, launch and operate the first privately funded deep space mission. (July 1, 2012)

NASA Releases Colorful Animation of Vesta Asteroid
A new animation from NASA's Dawn mission drapes high-resolution false color images over a 3D model of the asteroid Vesta's terrain constructed from Dawn's observations. (June 11, 2012)

Planetary Resources Plans to Mine Near-Earth Asteroids
A company named Planetary Resources has announced plans to mine Near-Earth Asteroids for raw materials. (April 24, 2012)

NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Spies New Surface Features on Giant Asteroid Vesta
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has revealed some unexpected details on the surface of Vesta, a huge asteroid Dawn is tracking, which is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. (March 23, 2012)

NASA WISE Space Telescope Finds Fewer Asteroids Near Earth
New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) indicate there are much fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought. (October 1, 2011)

Chinese Scientists Want to Pull Asteroid into Orbit Around Earth
PopSci is reporting that a group of Chinese scientists want to pull an asteroid into orbit around Earth. (August 31, 2011)

Scientists Stunned by 'Alfred Hitchcock' Lutetia Asteroid Photograph
The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft recently beamed back close-up photographs of asteroid Asteroid 21 Lutetia, which NASA describes as "an ancient, cratered relic from the dawn of the solar system. (July 16, 2010)