asteroid Archives

A view of eight sample trays containing the final material from asteroid Bennu. The dust and rocks were poured into the trays from the top plate of the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) head. 51.2 grams were collected from this pour, bringing the final mass of asteroid sample to 121.6 grams. Credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold Larger image

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Astrogeology / Astrobiology Analysis Update

by Keith CowingFebruary 16, 2024September 18, 2025

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivered 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from asteroid Bennu when it returned to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023; the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space […]

SwRI Scientists Identify Water Molecules On Asteroids - SwRI

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

SwRI Scientists Identify Water Molecules On Asteroids For The First Time

by Keith CowingFebruary 13, 2024September 18, 2025

Using data from the retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) — a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR — Southwest Research Institute scientists have […]

Glowing ʻaʻā flow front advancing over pāhoehoe on the coastal plain of Kīlauea in Hawaii, United States

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Impact events, Press Release

More Than A Meteorite: New Clues About The Demise Of Dinosaurs

by Keith CowingFebruary 12, 2024February 11, 2024

What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately […]

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Predicting Interstellar Object Chemodynamics With Gaia

by Keith CowingFebruary 9, 2024July 12, 2025

The interstellar object population of the Milky Way is a product of its stars. However, what is in fact a complex structure in the Solar neighbourhood has traditionally in ISO […]

Using a nanomanipulator and an ultra-fine ion beam, a tiny lamella, about five by ten micrometres in size and only one hundred nanometres thin, is cut out of the meteorite and attached to a sample bar. The scientists can then analyze the organic particles in this lamella under an electron microscope (right). CREDIT SuperSTEM Laboratory, Daresbury, UK

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Cosmic Building Blocks Of Life Discovered Through An Electron Microscope

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2024January 30, 2024

Meteorites are fragments of asteroids which find their way to Earth as shooting stars. These cosmic sediments have frozen the primordial soup from which our solar system emerged – preserving […]

A melt splash discovered on a Ryugu sample surface. The melt splash shows a round shape. - Tohoku University

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Press Release

Records Of Cometary Dust Hitting Asteroid Ryugu

by Keith CowingJanuary 24, 2024January 23, 2024

Ryugu is a near-Earth asteroid that gained significant attention when the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission collected samples and returned them to Earth. These samples have proven to offer a treasure trove […]

A top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside. -- NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Sample Return Update: OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Revealed

by Keith CowingJanuary 22, 2024January 22, 2024

Erika Blumenfeld, creative lead for the Advanced Imaging and Visualization of Astromaterials (AIVA) and Joe Aebersold, project management lead, captured this picture using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated […]

Principal component values for all six meteorites studied at different grain sizes are shown with the “α-line” boundary from DeMeo et al. (2009) that separates the S- and C/X-complexes. Grain size variations can be seen by using the dotted line interconnecting PC values of measurements of the same meteorite at different grain sizes. Marker size increases with grain size which includes values of 45-90 µm, 90-150 µm, 150-300 µm, 300-500 µm, and 500-1,000 µm. The Lunar-style space weathering trend from Binzel et al. (2019) is shown with blue dots and a corresponding arrow showing the direction of increasing space weathering. The carbonaceous space weathering trend from Lantz et al. (2018) is shown with the brown arrow indicating that the measured weathering trend would move in either direction depending on the meteorite composition. It also shows that differentiating between space weathering and grain size effects would be challenging in PC space. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Grain Size Effects on UV-MIR (0.2-14 micron) Spectra of Carbonaceous Chondrite Groups

by Keith CowingJanuary 22, 2024January 22, 2024

Carbonaceous chondrites are among the most important meteorite types and have played a vital role in deciphering the origin and evolution of our solar system.

Comparison of spectral variation trends in the 3 μm bands of CCs and asteroids. Asteroids are grouped based on the SMASSII taxonomy into C-complex (carbonaceous, including C, B, Cb, Cg, Cgh, and D types), S-complex (silicate, including S, A, R, K, L, Sa, Sq, Sr, Sk, Sl, and V types), and X-complex (metal-rich, including X, Xe, Xk, Xc types, corresponding to the M, P, E types in Tholen taxonomy, which lack absorption features and exhibiting high reflectance). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Near-mid Infrared Spectroscopy Of Carbonaceous Chondrites: Insights Into Spectral Variation Due To Aqueous Alteration And Thermal Metamorphism In Asteroids

by Keith CowingJanuary 18, 2024January 18, 2024

Carbonaceous chondrites (CCs) are windows into the early Solar system and the histories of their parent bodies. Their infrared spectral signatures are powerful proxies for deciphering their composition and evolution […]

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx curation engineer, Neftali Hernandez, attaches one of the tools developed to help remove two final fasteners that prohibited complete disassembly of the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head that holds the remainder of material collected from asteroid Bennu. Engineers on the team, based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, developed new tools that freed the fasteners on Jan. 10. Image credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz Larger image

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Status Report

OSIRIS-REx Team Clears A Hurdle To Access Remaining Sample From Asteroid Bennu

by Keith CowingJanuary 12, 2024January 12, 2024

Curation team members at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston have successfully removed the two fasteners from the sampler head that had prevented the remainder of OSIRIS-REx’s asteroid Bennu sample […]