A full disc view of Bennu, whoing its surface littered with giant boulders.

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors

Our solar system's small bodies pack big surprises.

Exploring asteroids

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Active Missions

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Mission On Deck

At the Station

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Rocky leftovers from planet formation.

Cosmic snowballs of gas and dust.

Bits of debris that fall through the atmosphere.

Three blue-hued, views from Hubble showing Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system after DART impact. A bright, white-blue center and streaks of darker blue emanating outward, with the streaks growing in length across the three images.

Protect Earth from impacts.

Overview

Asteroids, comets, and meteors are chunks of rock, ice, and metal left over from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. They are a lot like a fossil record of our early solar system.

There are currently about 1.3 million known asteroids, and more than 3,800 known comets.

Explore the 3D world of asteroids, comets, and NEOs. Learn about past and future missions, tracking and predicting orbits, and close approaches to Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

To date, NASA-sponsored surveys have provided over 95% of all Near-Earth Object discoveries.

NASA

NASA

Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)

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