Can we really deflect an asteroid by crashing into it? Nobody knows, but we are excited to try

We don’t know much about the target asteroid of Nasa’s imminent Dart mission, so it’s hard to predict what will happen when we crash into it.

Stefania Soldini, Lecturer in Space Engineering, UKRI FL Fellow, University of Liverpool • conversation
Sept. 21, 2022 • ~7 min

An asteroid impact could wipe out an entire city – a space security expert explains NASA's plans to prevent a potential catastrophe

NASA has only mapped 40% of the potentially dangerous asteroids that could crash into Earth. New projects will boost that number, and upcoming missions will test tech that could prevent collisions.

Svetla Ben-Itzhak, Assistant Professor of Space and International Relations, West Space Seminar, Air War College, Air University • conversation
March 1, 2022 • ~10 min

A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom

New research suggests that fire from the sky in the form of a small asteroid annihilated a city near the Dead Sea 3,600 years ago.

Christopher R. Moore, Archaeologist and Special Projects Director at the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program and South Carolina Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina • conversation
Sept. 20, 2021 • ~10 min

How asteroid dust helped us prove life's raw ingredients can evolve in outer space

A minuscule particle of asteroid dust has helped reveal how celestial rocks like Earth might have sprouted life.

Queenie Hoi Shan Chan, Lecturer in Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway • conversation
March 9, 2021 • ~7 min

Asteroid Bennu: successful touchdown – but sample return mission has only just begun

Bennu will tell us about our own origins as much as about the origin of asteroid Bennu.

Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University • conversation
Oct. 21, 2020 • ~7 min

NASA's OSIRIS-REx will land on an asteroid to bring home rocks and dust – if it can avoid Mt. Doom

OSIRIS-REx will touch down on asteroid Bennu, collect a sample of the dust and begin its journey back to Earth, where scientists will study it, hoping to learn secrets of the solar system's origin.

Elizabeth Cantwell, Professor of Practice for Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Senior Vice President for Research & Innovation, University of Arizona • conversation
Oct. 19, 2020 • ~8 min

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