Asteroids

What are Asteroids Made Of?
Asteroids, also known as minor planets or planetoids, are small rocky and metallic celestial bodies that orbit the Sun.

Impact of Asteroids
It is believed that the mass extinctions which took place millions of years ago, were triggered due to the impact of asteroids on the planet. This shows how destructive these celestial bodies can prove to be.

Interesting Facts about Asteroids
The movie 'Deep Impact', released in 1998, reiterates the fascination that human beings have with extraterrestrial objects. Right since the discovery of the first asteroid, Ceres, in the early 19th century, a lot of research has been done to learn more about asteroids. Here are some interesting facts that are the results of such intensive study on asteroids.

UN is Told That Earth Needs an Asteroid Shield
Scientists call for ?68m a year to detect danger, and more for spacecraft to defend against it

Closer Encounter: Nasa Plans Landing on 40m-wide Asteroid Travelling at 28,000mph
US eyes 2000SG344 for Armageddon-type mission as 1.1m tonne rock becomes potential landing site for astronauts

Asteroids
Asteroids are small celestial bodies that orbit the sun. They are found mostly in the Asteroid Belt, located between planets Mars and Jupiter. It is thought that they are remnants that did not coalescence into planets. Asteroids range in dimension from the size of a baseball to nearly one third the size of the moon.

Big Blasts or Tiny Tugs: How to Stop an Asteroid Catastrophe
Collision with Earth is seen as inevitable, but scientists are meeting to find solution.

Wanted: Man to Land on Killer Asteroid and Gently Nudge It From Path to Earth
It is the stuff of nightmares and, until now, Hollywood thrillers. A huge asteroid is on a catastrophic collision course with Earth and mankind is poised to go the way of the dinosaurs.

Wanted: Small Asteroid for Use As Slingshot to Slay a Goliath
Scientists at the French space agency, CNES, have calculated how to capture an asteroid and manoeuvre it into a near-Earth orbit, from where it can be flung into the path of a larger asteroid that threatens to collide with Earth.

It's Called Apophis. It's 390m Wide. And It Could Hit Earth in 31 Years Time
· Scientists call for plans to change asteroid's path · Developing technology could take decades

Probe Returning to Earth After Asteroid Landing
The Japanese space probe Hayabusa began its journey home yesterday after becoming the first spacecraft to successfully land on an asteroid and collect samples.

At Large: One Miniature Japanese Hopping Robot
A Japanese mission to drop a hopping robot on top of a speeding asteroid has ended in failure.

Antarctic Craters Reveal Asteroid Strike
Scientists using satellites have mapped huge craters under the Antarctic ice sheet caused by an asteroid as big as the one believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65m years ago. Professor Frans van der Hoeven, from Delft University in the Netherlands, told the conference that the...

Japan's Asteroid Mission Heralds a New Space Race
A Japanese rocket has blasted off on one of the most ambitious missions ever undertaken by space engineers. The tiny Muses-C probe will travel 400 million miles to return a piece of primordial rock left over from the solar system's creation five billion years ago.

Asteroid Hunter's Once in a Blue Moon Find
Throughout history stargazers, skywatchers, astrologers and priests have consoled themselves with just one moon. That is, until September 3, when Bill Yeung, a Canadian amateur asteroid hunter with a string of asteroids and comets to his name, discovered Earth's second moon.

Asteroid Could Mean End of Life As We Know It ... But It's 60,000 to One
Astronomers set a new date for the end of civilisation yesterday. Astronomers set a new date for the end of civilisation yesterday. They warned that a direct hit from a newly discovered asteroid called 2002 NT7 on February 1 2019, could cause continent wide destruction and severely alter the global climate.

Nasa dismisses asteroid collision claim
The chances of a recently discovered mile-wide asteroid, forecast to hurtle towards Earth, actually hitting the planet are "minimal", a Nasa scientist said today.