Asteroid

Private firms may travel to lunar surface: NASA report

London: A study of future human missions has indicated corporate researchers could be living on the moon by the time NASA astronauts head off to visit an asteroid in the 2020s. The study by Bigelow Aerospace, commissioned by NASA, shows "a lot of excitement and interest from various companies" for such ventures, Daily Mail quoted Robert Bigelow, founder and president of the Las Vegas-based firm, as saying.

The projects range from pharmaceutical research aboard Earth-orbiting habitats, to missions to the Moon's surface, he said on Thursday, citing a draft of the report due to be released in a few weeks.

NASA intends to follow the International Space Station programme with astronaut visits to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars about a decade later.

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Gigantic asteroid to fly past Earth on May 31

Washington: A gigantic asteroid will fly by Earth at the end of this month, making its closest approach for at least the next two centuries. On May 31, asteroid 1998 QE2, believed to be about 2.7 kilometres or nine Queen Elizabeth 2 ship-lengths in size, will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 5.8 million kilometres, or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. "Asteroid...  

NASA to lasso asteroid, bring it closer: Senator

Washington: NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, a top senator said Friday. The ship would capture the 500-ton, 25-foot asteroid in 2019. Then using an Orion space capsule, a crew of about four astronauts would nuzzle up next to the rock in 2021 for spacewalking exploration, said a government document. Senator Bill Nelson said...  

Large asteroid heading to Earth? Pray, says NASA

NASA chief Charles Bolden has advice on how to handle a large asteroid headed toward New York City: Pray. That's about all the United States - or anyone for that matter - could do at this point about unknown asteroids and meteors that may be on a collision course with Earth, Bolden told lawmakers at a US House of Representatives Science Committee hearing on Tuesday. ...  

Asteroid Apophis may strike Earth in 2068: NASA

A 325-meter asteroid that will safely fly by the Earth in 2029 and 2036, may strike the planet in the year 2068, scientists have warned. However, the chances of 99942 Apophis striking the Earth are slim with impact odds being about 2.3 in a million, the article published on NASA's website said. ...  

In a rarity, a meteorite hits Russia, an asteroid misses Earth by 17000 miles

An asteroid half the size of a football field passed closer to Earth than any other known object of its size on Friday, the same day an unrelated and much smaller space rock blazed over central Russia, creating shock waves that shattered windows and injured 1,200 people. ...  

Google doodles asteroid 2012 DA14's Earth 'near miss'

Google on Friday doodled the phenomenon of a small near-Earth asteroid - 2012 DA14 - that will pass very close to Earth on February 15. ...  

Newly discovered asteroid to pass close by Earth tonight

An asteroid, the size of a small football field is to fly past Earth - closer than ever before - almost at a touching distance of just 27,000 kilometres. ...

Newly discovered asteroid to pass close by Earth today

A newly discovered asteroid about half the size of a football field will pass nearer to Earth than any other known object of its size on Friday, giving scientists a rare opportunity for close-up observations without launching a probe. ...  

'Close' asteroid may miss Earth but could disrupt telecommunication

An asteroid due to whizz past the Earth this week could take out vital telecommunications satellites, scientists warn. They are sure there is no chance of the 45.7 metre wide space rock hitting the planet. ...  

NASA mulls over dragging asteroid into moon's orbit

According to a new report from Newscientist.com, NASA is mulling over a proposal to capture an asteroid and drag it into the moon's orbit. ...  

Potentially hazardous asteroid to fly by earth tomorrow

An asteroid, listed as a potentially hazardous object, will pass in close proximity to the earth at noon on Wednesday. The space rock, however, poses no danger of impacting the earth. The asteroid "4179 Toutatis", will fly by earth at a distance of 69,31,175 km, N Sri Raghunandan Kumar Director and Secretary of Planetary Society India said. ...  

Four Delhi schoolboys discover asteroids

New Delhi: In what is being considered a rare feat by experts, four schoolboys from Delhi have discovered two asteroids. Shubham Sharma and Mayank Sharma of DAV Centenary School, Paschim Vihar and young Astronomicans (amateur astronomer's wing of SPACE) Sahil Wadhwa and Akshay Gupta, who were part of two separate teams, have made two provisional discoveries of asteroids doing the country proud, SPACE Director CB Devgun said. "This marks a...  

NASA trains astronauts to land on asteroid

London: In a space mission straight from the movie "Armageddon", astronauts are being trained to land on an asteroid, explore it for minerals and even destroy the object if it threatens the Earth. NASA wants humans to make contact with an asteroid up to three million miles away by the end of the next decade, something far beyond the scope of Earth-Moon space flight in 1969. Travelling at around 80,000...  

New asteroid could hit earth in 2040: NASA

London: A new asteroid, identified by NASA, could potentially hit the earth on February 5, 2040, even though it is much smaller than the one - nine miles across - which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The UN Action Team on near-Earth objects, which has taken note of the 460-ft asteroid, placed the odds of its hitting the earth at one-in-625, though that could change nearer the...  

Bus-sized asteroid comes close to Earth

New Delhi: A bus-sized newly discovered asteroid on Friday came extremely close to the Earth, coming much nearer than the Moon, space scientists said. However, the space rock posed no danger of impacting the Earth. "The asteroid 2012 BX34 passed within 59,044 km of Earth at about 9 pm," Planetary Society of India Director N Raghunandan Kumar said. The moon orbits Earth at an average distance of about 386,000 km....  

Bus-sized asteroid comes close to Earth

New Delhi: A bus-sized newly discovered asteroid on Friday came extremely close to the Earth, coming much nearer than the Moon, space scientists said. However, the space rock posed no danger of impacting the Earth. "The asteroid 2012 BX34 passed within 59,044 km of Earth at about 9 pm," Planetary Society of India Director N Raghunandan Kumar said. The moon orbits Earth at an average distance of about 386,000 km....  

Snapshot: Earth's close encounter with asteroid

This image made from radar data taken in April 2010 by the Arecibo Radar Telescope in Puerto Rico and provided by NASA/Cornell/Arecibo shows asteroid 2005 YU55. The asteroid, bigger than an aircraft carrier, will dart between the Earth and moon Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - the closest encounter by such a huge rock in 35 years. But scientists say not to worry. It won't hit. (AP Photo/NASA/Cornell/Arecibo) ...  

Giant asteroid to brush past Earth

Cape Canaveral: A huge asteroid will pass closer to Earth than the moon on Wednesday morning, giving scientists a rare chance for study without having to go through the time and expense of launching a probe, officials said. Earth's close encounter with Asteroid 2005 YU 55 will occur at 8:28 AM IST on Wednesday November 8 (6:28 PM EST Tuesday), as the space rock sails about 201,000 miles from the...  

NASA identifies 90 pc of near-Earth asteroids

Los Angeles: A latest NASA survey on Thursday detected 93 per cent of the largest near-Earth asteroids, which reduced the risk of an unwarranted impact with Earth. The findings indicated that there were significantly fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought, roughly about 19,500. Astronomers, however, said that more research was needed to analyse the asteroids, as they got closer to earth. The space agency said on...