Asteroids
Latest about Asteroids
![a silver metal cannister containing dark grey pebbles](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/L8RaFh6xDqDjgoBv6wKVoP-320-80.jpg)
1st look at asteroid Bennu samples suggests space rock may even be 'a fragment of an ancient ocean world'
By Leonard David published
Space.com caught up with two leading scientists now engaged in extracting and analyzing samples of asteroid Bennu retrieved by NASA's OSIRIS-Rex mission.
![A balck and white image of an asteroid streaking through the stars](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Zk4C2JUH4RjpS65ugqj8CN-320-80.jpg)
Huge stadium-size asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth for centuries today (Feb. 2)
By Harry Baker published
A "potentially hazardous" space rock the size of a football stadium is about to reach its closest point to our planet for more than 100 years, and it won't get this close to us again for centuries more.
![an illustration of an asteroid's orbit, showing it passing close by Earth](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iiiTtfptKVgJ7rybQLsvvE-320-80.jpg)
Watch newly discovered asteroid fly between Earth and moon on Jan. 27 (video)
By Sascha Pare last updated
Asteroid 2024 BJ, which astronomers detected earlier this month, will be live-streamed as it zooms within 220,000 miles of Earth, or closer to us than the average distance to the moon.
![(Main) the asteriod Ryugu. (Inset top) A melt splash from the surface of Ryugu (inset bottom) a CT slice of the melt showing voids](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6JVRRoZ5JXmZ2EuDFwQiPF-320-80.png)
Messenger comets might be why Earth has life, asteroid Ryugu samples suggest
By Robert Lea published
Samples of the asteroid Ryugu, returned to Earth by the Hayabusa2 mission, carry evidence that organic molecules important to life were once delivered to Earth by comets.
![map of europe with a yellow line indicating the path of an incoming asteroid, which hit over germany](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uotDxoQYp6dFoELDarovyR-320-80.jpg)
How NASA predicted the Jan. 21 asteroid crash over Germany
By Mike Wall published
NASA's Scout impact-assessment system told astronomers where and when the tiny space rock would crash on Sunday morning (Jan. 21).
![An asteroid flying past earth](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PAcCZW5LV664Ht56dUQbS6-320-80.jpg)
Scientists discover near-Earth asteroid hours before it exploded over Berlin
By Kiley Price published
For only the eighth time in history, scientists detected an asteroid before it made its fiery appearance over Earth. The tiny fireball exploded near Berlin early on Jan. 21.
![Artist's conception of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qSMacod8UgxdVyrfw42tnC-320-80.jpg)
12 times scientists penetrated the secrets of asteroids in 2023
By Rahul Rao published
The OSIRIS-REx sampling mission, a planetary defense prototype named DART and a spacecraft's ambitious journey to a metal world are just some of the highlights
![NEOWISE is depicted in an artist’s concept in front of an image of the infrared sky that the mission captured. The string of red dots moving across the sky near the center of the image is Holda, the first asteroid the space telescope detected shortly after being reactivated in 2013.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8hkRUv8Q5tospge6vKJrP3-320-80.jpg)
Space weather will drag NASA's NEOWISE asteroid-hunting probe back to Earth in 2025
By Rahul Rao published
After more than a decade of hunting for asteroids and comets, the days of NASA's NEOWISE mission are officially numbered, thanks to our increasingly active sun.
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