Studying asteroids addresses a number of unknowns in planetary science. Investigating them makes use of asteroidal meteorites, remote observations and space-based missions.
Hayabusa
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report
Offworld Science Droids: A Review Maps Key Technologies For Small-body Sampling Robots
Unlike planetary rovers operating on the Moon or Mars, robots working on asteroids and comets must interact with surfaces where gravity is extremely weak, terrain is highly irregular, and material […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Sample Return, Status Report
The Science From Asteroid Sample Return Missions
To date, three samples from near-Earth asteroids have been delivered to Earth by Japan’s Hayabusa (2010) and Hayabusa2 (2020) missions, and the United States OSIRIS-REx mission (2023).
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Life’s Building Blocks Discovered In Samples From Asteroid Bennu
Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
Asteroid Itokawa Once Supported a Hydrothermal System
Ordinary chondrites (OCs) are the most abundant type of meteorites that fall to Earth. Compared to the carbonaceous chondrites, which commonly contain abundant hydrous minerals, OCs consist mainly of anhydrous […]