Asteroids

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A new study using two NASA solar observatories reveals that asteroid 3200 Phaethon’s tail is not dusty at all but is actually made of sodium gas.

NASA approves development of NEO Surveyor for a launch no later than June 2028.

NASA announced Friday the agency decided its Psyche mission will go forward, targeting a launch period opening on Oct. 10, 2023.

This page showcases our resources for those interested in learning more about the Lucy Mission.

This page showcases our resources for those interested in learning more about OSIRIS-REx.

While most NASA missions are acronyms, this particular mission took a different path.

DART successfully impacted its asteroid target on Sept. 26, 2022, in NASA's first attempt to move an asteroid in space.

On March 27, 2022, Lucy’s science team discovered that the smallest of the mission’s Trojan asteroid targets, Polymele, has a satellite of its own.

The path through the solar system is a rocky road. Asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt Objects—all kinds of small bodies of rock, metal and ice are in constant motion as they orbit the Sun. But what’s the difference between them? Why do these miniature worlds fascinate space explorers so much?

Over 100 participants from 18 countries – including NASA scientists and the agency’s NEOWISE mission – took part in the international exercise.

NASA's Lucy spacecraft observed the May 15-16, 2022, total lunar eclipse from 64 million miles from the Earth.

NASA has extended the planetary science missions of eight of its spacecraft due to their scientific productivity and potential to deepen our knowledge.

Psyche was tested to ensure it can operate in the extreme conditions it will face on its trip to a metal-rich asteroid.

Asteroid 2022 EB5's discovery marks the fifth time an asteroid has been observed before hitting Earth's atmosphere.

This February’s calendar has lots of twos. There was 02-02-2022 and now 02-22-2022 – which some people are calling “Twosday.”

NASA-funded ATLAS has reached become the first survey capable of searching the entire dark sky every 24 hours for near-Earth objects.

NEA Scout will visit an asteroid estimated to be smaller than a school bus – the smallest asteroid ever to be studied by a spacecraft.

Just two weeks after launch, NASA’s DART spacecraft opened its “eye” and returned its first images from space.

Launching in August 2022 and arriving at the asteroid belt in 2026, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will orbit a world we can barely pinpoint from Earth.

Learn more about the growing population of near-Earth objects with NASA’s new 3D real-time web-based application.

The new system improves NASA's capabilities to assess the impact risk of asteroids that can come close to our planet.

NASA received 23 millimeter-sized grains and 4 containers of even finer material from Ryugu – 10% of the total collected – from JAXA,

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) launched at 1:21 a.m. ET on Nov. 24, 2021, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

DART team members have filled the spacecraft with fuel, and are running rehearsals as they approach launch on Nov. 23, 2021.