Hasta La Gadget!

Both NASA and Planetary Resources dream of capturing asteroids, but they need viable targets — many space rocks aren’t easily moved. The University of Strathclyde just gave those organizations some help by identifying 12 near-Earth asteroids that are relatively easy to catch. All of them would require velocity changes of less than 1,640 feet per second to fall into orbit around Earth’s Lagrangian points, where the gravity balance would let miners and researchers get to work. Don’t expect intercept missions anytime soon, though. One of the more accessible targets, 2006 RH120, would have to be nudged in February 2021 to reach orbit in 2026; it will be a long while before any of us sees an asteroid up close.

Filed under: Transportation, Science, Alt

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Via: Huffington Post

Source: MIT Technology Review

Although the space agency has suffered from insufficient funding for its task, NASA has pressed ahead in the long process of finding near-Earth objects, which are more commonly referred to as NEOs. By doing so, the agency is able to anticipate whether a particular space rock is a future threat to our planet, something that

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NASA has published a series of images taken of the asteroid 1998 QE2, which were snapped yesterday via the Deep Space Network Antenna in California. Although the asteroid was located 3.75 million miles away, its relative distance was quite close, and it brought with it a moon, which is smaller in diameter and visible in the images as the white spot. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory took the opportunity to observe the asteroid, led by Marina Brozovic.

According to NASA, the asteroid is a binary asteroid, as shown by the radar images that were taken. About 16-percent of asteroids measuring in with a minimum diameter of 655-feet are of the binary variety. Based on the images, the space agency says the asteroid is about 1.7-miles in diameter, rotating in less than 4 hours and featuring multiple concavities.

Aside from the asteroid is one of its more interesting feature – the moon, which is said to be about 2000 feet in diameter. At about 2PM today, the asteroid was at its closest point to Earth, measuring in at about 15x the distance between our planet and the moon. Such was a notable event, with the asteroid not being slated for coming this close again within the next 200 years, possibly longer.

As you might have guessed from its name, the asteroid was discovered back in 1998. While it is no longer as close to us as it was today, it will still be hanging around in the vicinity for awhile, and as such researchers in both California and Puerto Rico will observe and image the space rock until June 9. Says NASA, in the coming days we may get to see clear, more detailed images of 1998 QE2.

Keeping an eye on the asteroid is part of a bigger plan that involves tracking the space rocks, helping to ultimately protect Earth – or at least help anticipate, at this point – when an asteroid might collide with our planet. Many projects are underway looking into various methods on how to redirect or destroy near-earth objects that pose a danger to our planet.

SOURCE: NASA

Asteroid 1998 QE2 passes Earth with moon in tow is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NASA scientists have recorded what they say is the largest explosion ever seen on the Moon. A meteoroid roughly the size of a small boulder crashed into the moon, creating a large explosion that NASA says could have been seen with the naked eye. The meteoroid was said to have weighed around 90 pounds and was traveling at approximately 56,000 mph when it crashed into the moon.

To put the explosion into perspective here on Earth, the explosion was said to have the same amount of force as five tons of TNT. Of course, that’s not even close to what an atomic bomb can pull off, nor a typical large explosion like what’ve seen recently in Texas at the fertilizer planet. However, with the vacuum of space and no gravity to slow anything down, the explosions can be much larger on the moon.

This specific explosion, which happened around two months ago, was ten times brighter than anything that NASA has ever seen before. Meteor impacts on the Moon are nothing new, and they happen all the time, but this explosion was unique and it’s said to have made a crater over 20 meters (65 feet) across.

So how does an explosion happen on the Moon if there’s no oxygen to activate it? NASA says that lunar meteors don’t require oxygen or combustion to explode. Meteors hit the Moon surface with so much kinetic energy that NASA says even a small pebble can make a crater that’s a few feet wide. As for the flash of light from the meteor explosion, that’s from the “thermal glow of molten rock and hot vapors” during impact.

NASA created a specific program to identify how often lunar meteor strikes occur in 2005, and this was the largest explosion that the program has ever seen in its roughly nine years of being active. During that time, scientists have identified over 300 explosions, most which happened during meteor showers on Earth and were rather dim. The program is essentially studying the where, when, and how often of meteor strikes on the Moon to determine the best time and location for future spacewalks on the Moon, if NASA ever decides to go back.

VIA: Wired

SOURCE: NASA

NASA records largest explosion ever on the Moon is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Many have lamented the seeming decline of the US space program. While we’re not expecting an immediate return to the halcyon days, the President’s proposed federal budget for fiscal 2014 could see some renewed ambition. NASA’s slice of the pie includes a plan that would improve detection of near-Earth asteroids, send a solar-powered robot ship (like the NASA concept above) to capture one of the space rocks and tow it back to a stable orbit near Earth, where researchers could study it up close. The agency would have humans setting foot on the asteroid by 2025, or even as soon as 2021. It’s a grand goal to say the least, but we’d potentially learn more about solar propulsion and defenses against asteroid collisions.

If NASA’s plans mostly involve the future, the US Air Force budget is looking into the past. It’s setting aside $35 million for a long-discussed resurrection of the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite, also known as DSCOVR — a vehicle that was scuppered in 2001 due to cost overruns, among other factors. Run by NOAA once aloft, the modernized satellite would focus on warning the Earth about incoming solar winds. That’s just one of the satellite’s original missions, but the November 2014 launch target is relatively realistic — and we’ll need it when the satellite currently fulfilling the role is overdue for a replacement.

Filed under: Robots, Science

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Via: Space.com

Source: NASA, AP (Yahoo)