Two recently approved missions will explore our solar system's early history, looking at asteroids near Jupiter and an odd object that may be a planetary core.
asteroids
Posted inEditors' Vox
To Bennu and Back
Justin Filiberto shares his experience as a guest at the OSIRIS-REx launch; a mission to obtain samples from the asteroid Bennu in hopes of learning more about the origin of water on Earth.
Posted inNews
NASA's New Asteroid Sampler Will Illuminate Solar System's History
In 7 years, scientists hope to directly analyze materials from the asteroid Bennu, an object that may reveal what conditions were like in the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Objects That Slam into Ceres Remain on Its Surface
Hypervelocity impact experiments shed new light on the composition and evolution of the largest dwarf planet's little-known surface.
Posted inNews
Finding Debris Clouds Around Asteroids Headed Our Way
Small spikes in the solar system's magnetic field may help scientists detect overlooked and possibly dangerous debris clouds around near-Earth asteroids.
Posted inNews
Dawn Spacecraft Enters into Orbit Around Dwarf Planet Ceres
A 16-month investigation of the dwarf planet Ceres could reveal a lot about the most massive body in the asteroid belt and could advance our understanding of the formation of terrestrial planets.
Posted inNews
Group Calls for More Focus on Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
A declaration from astronauts, scientists, and others calls for dramatically increasing the detection and tracking of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects.