NASA warns that a 65-foot wide asteroid will be coming dangerously close to the Earth today, November 26. Know the consequences that a gigantic asteroid has.
When it comes to space, both exploration and protection is equally important for scientists and space agencies. That is why before the Artemis-1 mission, which is aiming to send crewed spacecraft back to the Moon to explore its polar region, NASA took up the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) where a spacecraft was used to change the path of an asteroid. And the reason this test was done was because of many asteroids which threaten the Earth with their potential to destroy cities and even countries. One such asteroid will be paying a visit to the Earth today itself, November 26. Read on to know whether an asteroid strike is possible.
Scary asteroid to come very close to the Earth
The Planetary Defense of NASA is made up of multiple departments, all of which are tasked with monitoring the Near-Earth Objects (NEO). These departments include Center for Near Earth Objects Studies (CNEOS), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Small-Body database. The cumulative data from these departments has revealed quite a bit about this space rock. The asteroid is named 2022 UD72. It was first discovered recently in October 2022, and hence the four digit number in its name. The 65-foot asteroid will be coming as close as 4 million kilometers to the Earth. While that may seem like a large distance, traveling at a speed of 15,408 kilometers per hour, it can close that gap within days in case there is a last moment deflection.
However, the prediction by NASA at the moment is that there is little chance that 2022 UD72 will strike the Earth. It is expected that the asteroid will make a safe passage. However, various instruments will be monitoring it till it is at a safe distance from us.
NASA’s asteroid tracking technology
Ever since NASA understood the risk of the near-Earth objects (NEO), it has dedicated itself to track and monitor as many space rocks in the inner circle of the solar system as possible. Using the prowess of JPL and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope, the US space agency collects data for over 20,000 asteroids.
NASA and the European Space Agency are developing plans for one of the most ambitious campaigns ever attempted in space: bringing the first samples of Mars material safely back to Earth for detailed study. The diverse set of scientifically curated samples now being collected by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover could help scientists answer the question of whether ancient life ever arose on the Red Planet.
Bringing samples of Mars to Earth for future study would happen in several steps with multiple spacecraft, and in some ways, in a synchronized manner. This short animation features key moments of the Mars Sample Return campaign: from landing on Mars and securing the sample tubes to launching them off the surface and ferrying them back to Earth.
Animation is contributed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the European Space Agency, Goddard Space Flight Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center.
Artist’s depiction of the VERITAS Venus mission.Image: NASA/JPL
NASA’s JPL is struggling with issues related to budget, staffing, and poor communications, forcing the space agency to delay a highly anticipated mission to Venus.
During the annual meeting of the Venus Exploration Analysis Group on Monday, Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division Lori Glaze described the mission delay as “the most painful thing I’ve ever had to do probably in my whole life.” However, Glaze said that in trying to address challenges highlighted by an independent review board, “there were zero good options.”
NASA recently shared the results of an independent review board that was put together to decide the fate of the Psyche mission. The mission had missed its initial launch window in August 2022 due to development delays, but is now targeting a launch date in October 2023 to study a metal-rich asteroid. However, the report put together by the review board revealed issues that went far beyond the ones that led to the delay of Psyche.
An illustration of the Psyche mission, which is set to launch in 2023. Illustration: NASA
The independent review board noted that there were not enough staff members working on Psyche to allow for its completion on time, in addition to communication issues and staff members working remotely due to the covid-19 pandemic. The board also noted an unprecedented workload and an imbalance between workload and available resources at JPL.
G/O Media may get a commission
*lightsaber hum*
SabersPro
For the Star Wars fan with everything. These lightsabers powered by Neopixels, LED strips that run inside the blade shape that allow for adjustable colors, interactive sounds, and changing animation effects when dueling.
As a result of these issues, NASA decided to delay the launch of its VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) probe for at least three years. “This is a bitter, bitter blow for the VERITAS team in particular, and the Venus community more broadly,” Planetary Scientist Paul Byrne told Gizmodo in an email. “I’m very disappointed.”
VERITAS was originally scheduled to launch in 2027 on a mission to map the surface of Venus and study its atmosphere. Its delay to 2031 is meant to allow for staff working on VERITAS to contribute to missions that are further along in their development and free up additional resources for the Psyche mission.
Glaze also cited the impact of covid-19 and the ongoing inflation crisis, saying NASA did not receive any additional funding to offset the financial effects of the past two years. “I just wanted to make a note that we’re accommodating a lower budget right now than we anticipated,” Glaze said.
To which she added: “And so every single project that’s getting ready to start building hardware is saying we need to have the money that’s in our budgets out in that year. We need it now so that we can go ahead and begin these early procurements. And so we’re trying to accommodate that as well.”
Members of the Venus science community were frustrated by the decision, especially considering how long they had to wait for a NASA mission to advance Venus science. NASA’s last mission to Venus, Magellan, arrived at the planet in 1989 and concluded science operations in 1994. Since then, NASA hasn’t sent out a specialized Venus mission. But much to the delight of scientists studying Venus, NASA green-lit two Venus missions, VERITAS and DAVINCI, in June of last year. DAVINCI is still on track to launch in 2029, but VERITAS wasn’t as lucky.
“A delay of three years isn’t much in the scheme of NASA’s frequency of Venus missions, but the data VERITAS will return are badly needed—so having to wait for even longer, especially through no fault of the VERITAS team—feels very unfair,” Byrne said.
VERITAS team members who were present at the meeting expressed frustration at having to bear the brunt of the budget and workforce issues when they’ve not gone over budget or have any issues with staffing. “I recognize that you are not responsible for the things that are going to be assessed, that’s out of your control,” Glaze said while addressing a member of the VERITAS team. “I can make a commitment to you and your team to be transparent and to work with you.”
The science team at VERITAS will be reassigned to other missions before they resume work on the mission to Venus later on. “We are going to provide some level of support throughout the stand down for the science team to continue meeting, continue talking, continue thinking towards how we go forward in the 2024 timeframe,” Glaze said.
There will also be an assessment of the progress made at JPL towards resolving the issues noted in the report, as well as progress made for two upcoming missions, NASA’s Europa Clipper and NISAR, which are scheduled for launch in 2024. “If they are not sufficiently staffed and they miss their launch window, the funding implications of that would be, I would go so far as to say, almost catastrophic,” Glaze said.
The Psyche mission is designed to reveal the origins of a 140-mile-wide (226-kilometer) asteroid, but its delay has already revealed more than NASA had anticipated. “I had heard that there were serious staffing issues at JPL, but that’s true of many places because of the covid-19 pandemic and other issues,” Byrne said. “But I had no idea just how bad things were.”
More:NASA Lacks Plan for Ditching Space Station in an Emergency
A massive asteroid will be making its closest approach to the Earth today, October 8, according to NASA. Is there a risk of asteroid strike? Find out.
The Earth is dodging asteroids left and right. After escaping the threat from a couple of asteroids yesterday, including a 100-foot space rock, the Earth again faces the scare of an even larger one. According to NASA, a 130-foot wide asteroid is approaching the Earth today, October 8 and this is a scary development. An asteroid this size can easily flatten a major city in the world if it ends up getting dragged by the Earth’s gravitational pull and unleash a nightmarish hell on our planet. So, how likely is the chance of an asteroid strike? Read on to find out.
The tech NASA leverages to protect the Earth
NASA has built and operates various departments that are tasked with the duty of tracking any near Earth object (NEO) that have the potential to hit the Earth and kill us. These departments use various ground based telescopes, satellite telescopes such as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) as well as analysis and prediction models that not only track more than 20,000 space rocks but also predict the likelihood of any of them hitting us in the next 100 years.
Will this massive asteroid hit the Earth?
According to the data provided by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as well as Center for Near Earth Objects Studies (CNEOS) and Small-Body database by NASA, we know quite a bit about this asteroid. The Apollo-class space rock has been named 2022 SU21 and it was first discovered on September 27 of this year. The asteroid is expected to come as close as 761 thousand kilometers to the Earth. While many asteroids pass the Earth on a daily basis, rarely a few come closer than a million kilometers. The asteroid also has an extremely high speed of 71,064 kilometers per hour which means if it does get deflected, it can reach the Earth within hours. And this is why there is a serious concern over this celestial body.
But if the NASA predictions are to be believed, the asteroid will likely make a safe passage across the planet. But, space is an unknown territory and nothing can be left to assumptions. That’s why NASA will be tracking this asteroid till it passes the Earth by and reaches a safe distance.
At WPI, Leshin focused on expanding research, WPI’s signature Global Projects Program, and ways to address gender disparity in STEM. In addition, during her presidential tenure, new academic and collaboration spaces were developed on the WPI campus, notably a 40,000-square-foot Innovation Studio, with flexible, creative space for active learning classrooms, and the newly opened Unity Hall, a 100,000-square-foot academic building focused on robotics engineering, data science, cybersecurity, learning sciences and technology, and other emerging interdisciplinary programs. WPI is now among STEM institutions with the highest percentage of female undergraduate students and is recognized for its balance of excellence in teaching and groundbreaking research.
Alongside her administrative career, Leshin has continued her scientific endeavors, which are focused on deciphering the record of water on objects in our solar system. For example, she served as a member of the Mars Science Laboratory science team that analyzed data collected by the Curiosity rover to find evidence of water on the surface of Mars. She has also been involved in planning and advocating for Mars Sample Return missions for more than two decades.
Raised in Arizona, Leshin earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Arizona State University (ASU), followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in geochemistry from Caltech. After a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA, she served as a professor of geological sciences at ASU and director of its Center for Meteorite Studies. Before leaving ASU for NASA, she led the formation of ASU’s pathbreaking School of Earth and Space Exploration.
Leshin is a recipient of NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal and Distinguished Public Service Medal, and of the Meteoritical Society’s Nier Prize, awarded for outstanding research in meteoritics or planetary science by a scientist under the age of 35. The International Astronomical Union recognized her contributions to planetary science with the naming of asteroid 4922 Leshin.
In 2004, Leshin served on President George W. Bush’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, a nine-member commission charged with advising the president on the execution of his new Vision for Space Exploration. In 2013, President Barack Obama appointed Leshin to the advisory board of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Since 2016, she has co-chaired the National Academies Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable.
In 2021, Leshin received Caltech’s Distinguished Alumni Award, which is bestowed annually by the Institute in recognition of personal and professional accomplishments that have made a noteworthy impact in a field, community, or society more broadly.
A committee composed of Caltech trustees, faculty, senior administrative leaders, and two members of the JPL community conducted an extensive search and recommended Leshin to Caltech’s president. JPL, which was founded by Caltech faculty and students in 1936, has been managed by Caltech on behalf of NASA since 1958.
Interim director Lt. Gen. James will resume his position as deputy director when Leshin formally assumes her position.
A sizable asteroid is going to make a close pass to Earth next week, scientists say, but there’s no need to panic.
The asteroid known as 4660 Nereus will come as close as 2.5 million miles to Earth – a relatively short distance given the vastness of space. Still, that’s about 10 times as far away as the Moon.
NASA scientists say anything that comes as close as 1.3 times the distance from Earth to the Sun (roughly 93 million miles) is considered a Near-Earth Object.
The oval asteroid is just over 1,000 feet wide, or about the height of the U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles.
It was first discovered in 1982 and is expected to make its closest approach in 2060, when its orbit will bring it about 745,000 miles away from Earth.
The asteroid is rich in minerals and metals and if it were possible to be mined, it would command billions of dollars for its deposits of nickel, iron and cobalt, Forbes reports.