asteroids
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Collecting Samples From Asteroid Bennu May Be Harder Than NASA Realised, New Findings Suggest
NASA scientists have released a boatload of data from OSIRIS-REx, the spacecraft orbiting the asteroid Bennu. There are lots of interesting results—and some potential unforeseen challenges when it comes to collecting a sample.
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Astronomers Perform Enormous Asteroid Readiness Exercise
On October 12, 2017, a 20-meter asteroid passed just 50,000 kilometers from Earth. For weeks, dozens of astronomers from labs around the world mobilized, measuring everything they could about the asteroid in preparation for an impact.
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Japanese Spacecraft Hayabusa2 Touches Down On Asteroid Ryugu
The Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft has completed one of its most exciting challenges yet: On Thursday evening, it touched down on the asteroid Ryugu, fired a tantalum bullet into the rocky surface, and ascended back into orbit around the tiny world, according to updates from the mission’s English-language Twitter account.
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Amateur Astronomy Equipment May Have Spotted Tiny Object Beyond Neptune
Japanese astronomers spotted evidence of tiny Kuiper Belt object at the outer edge of the Solar System using a pair of telescopes you could buy online, according to a new paper.