Dawn

DART – NASA’s first mission to demonstrate a planetary defense technique – will get one chance to hit its target, the small moonlet in the binary asteroid system Didymos.

On April 13, 2029, asteroid Apophis will cruise harmlessly by Earth at distance of about 19,000 miles (31,000 kilometers). Scientists are already planning observations and science opportunities for the event.

Next week at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference, NASA’s PDCO and other U.S. agencies and space science institutions, along with international partners, will participate in a “tabletop exercise” that will play out a realistic—but fictional—scenario for an asteroid on an impact trajectory with Earth.

Five years of data have significantly advanced scientists' knowledge of asteroids and comets in our solar system, as well as the stars and galaxies beyond.

The Space Foundation presented NASA's Dawn mission with the 2019 John L. "Jack" Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration.

A small asteroid has been caught in the process of spinning so fast it’s throwing off material.

Bennu has revealed itself to be more rugged than expected, challenging the mission team to alter its flight and sample collection plans, due to the rough terrain.

Just as dust gathers in corners and along bookshelves in our homes, dust piles up in space too. But when the dust settles in the solar system, it’s often in rings.

Whether you're doing it for the nerd cred or the pie, this week on #10Things, we've got all the ways you can celebrate #PiDay with NASA.

Using insights from the Dawn mission, scientists pursue clues to Ceres’ secrets by simulating its conditions on Earth.

By looking at the Moon, the most complete and accessible chronicle of the asteroid collisions that carved our young solar system, a group of scientists is challenging our understanding of a part of Earth’s history.

On December 31, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered into orbit around the asteroid Bennu, and made Bennu the smallest object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft.

The asteroid will fly safely past Earth on Saturday, Dec. 22, at a distance of about 1.8 million miles (2.9 million kilometers).

Recently analyzed data from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has revealed water locked inside the clays that make up its scientific target, the asteroid Bennu.

On New Year's Day 2019, NASA's New Horizons will fly by a distant Kuiper Belt Object—and open a new chapter in how we define our place in the cosmos.

As OSIRIS-REx closes in on its target destination, the asteroid Bennu, anticipation is building for the first-ever, closeup glimpse of this prominent clump of rock. Meet a few members of our team.

Here’s a lineup of the various kinds of small bodies that orbit the Sun and sometimes impact planets and each other.

Small worlds witnessed dramatic changes in our solar system that occurred long before humans. Here's how we're studying them.

NASA will host a live Science Chat at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 7, to discuss upcoming encounters of two of the agency’s planetary missions, New Horizons and OSIRIS-REx.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter. Here are some great shots from its extended mission in the main asteroid belt.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter.

NASA has given approval for the implementation and 2021 launch of the Lucy spacecraft to the Trojan asteroids.

A mission of firsts makes history at a comet despite setbacks.

Team exceeded all challenges over 11 years of exploration of Vesta and Ceres.

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?