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UrduWASHINGTON–The press conference schedule and online media center are now live for Fall Meeting 2020, when more than 20,000 attendees from 110 countries are expected to assemble virtually for the largest worldwide conference in the Earth and space sciences. This…
Tag: COMETS/ASTEROIDS
Chemical physicist to collaborate on NASA-funded study of Saturn’s moon Titan
Findings will contribute to NASA’s mission to Titan in 2026
Ancient zircon minerals from Mars reveal the elusive internal structure of the red planet
The uranium-bearing mineral zircon is an abundant constituent of Earth’s continental crust, providing information about the age and origin of the continents and large geological features such as mountain chains and giant volcanoes. But unlike Earth, Mars’s crust is not…
Building blocks of life can form long before stars
An international team of scientists have shown that glycine, the simplest amino acid and an important building block of life, can form under the harsh conditions that govern chemistry in space. The results, published in Nature Astronomy , suggest that…
SwRI scientists expand space instrument’s capabilities
Researchers add second dating technique to prototype spaceflight instrument
Hundreds of copies of Newton’s Principia found in new census
Findings suggest that Isaac Newton’s 17th-century masterpiece was more widely read
Mining rocks in orbit could aid deep space exploration
The first mining experiments conducted in space could pave the way for new technologies to help humans explore and establish settlements on distant worlds, a study suggests. Tests performed by astronauts on the International Space Station suggest that bacteria can…
NASA deems SwRI-developed satellites healthy, extends CYGNSS mission
Hurricane wind monitoring mission will continue through 2023
Researchers present wild theory: Water may be naturally occurring on all rocky planets
The emergence of life is a mystery. Nevertheless, researchers agree that water is a precondition for life. The first cell emerged in water and then evolved to form multicellular organism. The oldest known single-cell organism on Earth is about 3.5…
New remote sensing technique could bring key planetary mineral into focus
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Planetary scientists from Brown University have developed a new remote sensing method for studying olivine, a mineral that could help scientists understand the early evolution of the Moon, Mars and other planetary bodies. “Olivine is…
Where were Jupiter and Saturn born?
An additional planet between Saturn and Uranus was kicked out of the Solar System in its infancy
Asteroid Ryugu shaken by Hayabusa2’s impactor
The artificial impactor disturbed boulders within a 30m radius from the center of the impact crater- providing important insight into asteroids’ resurfacing processes
Astronomers discover activity on distant planetary object
Findings lead to reclassification of Centaur as comet
“Fireball” meteorite contains pristine extraterrestrial organic compounds
On the night of January 16, 2018, a fireball meteor streaked across the sky over the Midwest and Ontario before landing on a frozen lake in Michigan. Scientists used weather radar to find where the pieces landed and meteorite hunters…
SwRI study offers more complete view of massive asteroid Psyche
Researcher made first observations of asteroid at mid-ultraviolet wavelengths
Tiny moon shadows may harbor hidden stores of ice
Hidden pockets of water could be much more common on the surface of the moon than scientists once suspected, according to new research led by the University of Colorado Boulder. In some cases, these tiny patches of ice might exist…
OSIRIS-REx TAGs surface of asteroid Bennu
Captured on Oct. 20, 2020 during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of images shows the SamCam imager’s field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches and touches down on asteroid Bennu’s surface, over 200 million…
Two SwRI experiments fly aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket
Asteroid sampling technology, tapered liquid acquisition device tested in low gravity
Spitzer space telescope legacy chronicled in Nature Astronomy
To understand the significance of the Spitzer Space Telescope on the understanding of our solar system, think of what the steam engine meant for the industrial revolution. A national team of scientists today published in the journal Nature Astronomy two…
Planetary astronomer co-authors studies of asteroid as member of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission
Mission’s science team publishes findings characterizing asteroid’s surface in advance of sample collection event
SwRI scientists study the rugged surface of near-Earth asteroid Bennu
New papers outline what NASA’s OSIRIS-REx will collect from asteroid surface
Scientists peer inside an asteroid
New findings from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission suggest that the interior of the asteroid Bennu could be weaker and less dense than its outer layers–like a crème-filled chocolate egg flying though space. The results appear in a study published today in…
Moon’s magnetic crust research sees scientists debunk long-held theory
New international research into the Moon provides scientists with insights as to how and why its crust is magnetised, essentially ‘debunking’ one of the previous longstanding theories. Australian researcher and study co-author Dr Katarina Miljkovic, from the Curtin Space Science…
Arrokoth: Flattening of a snowman
Only in the course of several million years did Arrokoth, also known by its nickname Ultima Thule, acquire its bizarre, pancake-flat shape
Second alignment plane of solar system discovered
A study of comet motions indicates that the Solar System has a second alignment plane.
Second alignment plane of solar system discovered
A study of comet motions indicates that the Solar System has a second alignment plane. Analytical investigation of the orbits of long-period comets shows that the aphelia of the comets, the point where they are farthest from the Sun, tend…
SwRI study describes discovery of close binary trans-Neptunian object
Scientists utilized citizen science network to observe the object
Remnants of an ancient asteroid shed new light on the early solar system
Researchers have shaken up a once accepted timeline for cataclysmic events in the early solar system.
SwRI instruments aboard Rosetta help detect unexpected ultraviolet aurora at a comet
ESA’s Rosetta mission discovers unique aurora at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Comet Chury’s ultraviolet aurora
In the aurora borealis on Earth, electrically charged particles of the solar wind move along the Earth’s magnetic field. At high latitudes, these strike nitrogen and oxygen atoms and molecules in the upper Earth’s atmosphere and cause them to glow.…
Ryugu’s rocky past
Different kinds of rocks on Ryugu provide clues to the asteroid’s turbulent history
Back to space: in 2024 Politecnico di Milano will take part to the first planetary defense mission
After contributing to Rosetta Mission, in 2024 Politecnico di Milano will be back to deep space. That year ESA, the European Space Agency, will launch the Hera spacecraft towards binary asteroid Didymos, the smallest ever visited object by a space…
SwRI scientist searches for stellar phosphorus to find potentially habitable exoplanets
Stellar chemical compositions used as proxy for potentially habitable systems
New small satellite to rendezvous with binary asteroids
The University of Colorado Boulder and Lockheed Martin will soon lead a new space mission to capture the first-ever closeup look at a mysterious class of solar system objects: bin The University of Colorado Boulder and Lockheed Martin will soon…
SwRI-led study indicates sand-sized meteoroids are peppering asteroid Bennu
Research uses data from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission
Where rocks come alive: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx observes an asteroid in action
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere – and while here on Earth, “happy hour” is commonly associated with winding down and the optional cold beverage, that’s when things get going on Bennu, the destination asteroid of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. In a special…
Where rocks come alive: OSIRIS-REx observes an asteroid in action
While studying asteroid Bennu up close, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft witnessed periodic outbursts of material being kicked up from the surface; a dedicated observation campaign revealed details of the activity and the processes likely causing it
How small particles could reshape Bennu and other asteroids
In January 2019, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was orbiting asteroid Bennu when the spacecraft’s cameras caught something unexpected: Thousands of tiny bits of material, some just the size of marbles, began to bounce off the surface of the asteroid–like a game…
Meteorites show transport of material in early solar system
New studies of a rare type of meteorite show that material from close to the Sun reached the outer solar system even as the planet Jupiter cleared a gap in the disk of dust and gas from which the planets…
Peculiar planetary system architecture around three Orion stars explained
Understanding the origins of extremely oblique orbital angles such as these could help reveal details about the planetary formation process
SwRI awarded NASA contract to develop high-latitude mission to image the Sun’s poles
SwRI also contributing to two additional mission concept design studies
Planetary astronomer receives NASA grants for two new studies of main asteroid belt
Scientist will study spectral characteristics of small Koronis asteroids and Trojan-like asteroids in the main belt
SwRI-led, first-ever mission to the Trojan asteroids passes NASA milestone
Lucy mission gains approval for final development stage
Meteorite strikes may create unexpected form of silica
When a meteorite hurtles through the atmosphere and crashes to Earth, how does its violent impact alter the minerals found at the landing site?
Hubble snaps close-up of celebrity comet NEOWISE
NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of comet NEOWISE, taken on Aug. 8, zero in on the visitor’s coma, the gossamer shell of gas and dust that surrounds its nucleus as it is heated by the Sun. This is the first…
NASA selects SwRI to participate in $6 billion Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition IV contract
SwRI’s award-winning CYGNSS platform added to NASA’s RSDO catalog
Huge ring-like structure on Ganymede’s surface may have been caused by violent impact
Researchers from Kobe University and the National Institute of Technology, Oshima College have conducted a detailed reanalysis of image data from Voyager 1, 2 and Galileo spacecraft in order to investigate the orientation and distribution of the ancient tectonic troughs…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx is one rehearsal away from touching asteroid Bennu
NASA’s first asteroid sampling spacecraft is making final preparations to grab a sample from asteroid Bennu’s surface. Next week, the OSIRIS-REx mission will conduct a second rehearsal of its touchdown sequence, practicing the sample collection activities one last time before…
Arecibo Observatory returns from tropical storm Isaias lockdown to track asteroid for NASA
The National Science Foundation facility, managed by the University of Central Florida, determines that a newly discovered asteroid won’t threaten Earth
Iron-rich meteorites show record of core crystallization in system’s oldest planetesimals
To truly understand what makes our planet capable of sustaining life, and to look for habitable worlds elsewhere, it is crucial to understand its interior–past and present