Tag

Planetary Defense

All articles tagged with #planetary defense

space1 day ago•106 min saved

China plots space-ground early-warning system for sunward asteroids

China's space agency announced plans to develop a coordinated space-ground asteroid early-warning network that would combine ground-based optical telescopes with a space-based observing constellation to detect near-Earth asteroids, especially those approaching from the sunward direction. The proposed architecture includes a basic model with a Sun-Earth L1 satellite plus northern and southern ground stations, and an extended model that adds Venus-like or distant retrograde orbits to improve sky coverage. The move aligns with China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, complements ongoing international efforts (e.g., NASA's DART, ESA's Hera), and emphasizes open data sharing and potential radar capabilities as gaps in current asteroid tracking persist. The development comes amid calls for stronger planetary defense and the upcoming International Year of Planetary Defense in 2029 and notable close approaches such as Apophis' flyby.

via Space|

#asteroids #cnsa #near-earth-objects

space-and-spaceflight2 days ago•16 min saved

Inside-Out Nukes: A New Plan to Stop Large Asteroids

Chinese researchers propose using a nuclear blast to destroy or rapidly deflect a large asteroid by carving a crater and detonating a warhead inside; their models favor a pre-excavation detonation for deep energy transfer, potentially making this approach more effective than surface-only hits for rocks around 100 meters in size and offering two defense modes: direct-impact detonation and pre-excavation detonation.

via Gizmodo|

#asteroid-impact #asteroids #nuclear-detonation

space6 days ago•1 min saved

Hayabusa2 completes Torifune asteroid flyby, on track to 2031 target

Japan's Hayabusa2 completed a high-speed flyby of the Torifune asteroid as part of its Extended Mission, with data confirming success and potential image release; the probe continues toward its final target in 2031 and aims to advance close-approach technology for planetary defense.

via nhk.or.jp|

#asteroid #hayabusa2 #jaxa

space7 days ago•13 min saved

Jupiter’s 1994 Comet Shower: A Turning Point for Space Observation and Defense

In July 1994, 21 fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into Jupiter over six days, marking the first direct observation of a collision between solar-system bodies. Triggered by Brian Marsden’s 1993 orbital prediction, a coordinated global observing effort captured unprecedented data (Hubble, Galileo, Ulysses, Voyager 2) and revealed an enormous energy release (about 40 million megatons total; fragment G ~6 million megatons) that left a 12,000-km scar. The event reshaped space policy, leading to NASA’s Spaceguard Survey in 1998 to catalog near-Earth asteroids and informing modern planetary-defense efforts such as the 2022 DART mission; it also cemented Eugene Shoemaker’s legacy in lunar exploration.

via Space Daily|

#comet #jupiter #planetary-defense

science-and-tech7 days ago•25 min saved

Could We Spot a Doomsday Asteroid Before It Strikes?

The article asks if humanity could detect an extinction-level asteroid before impact, using the dinosaurs’ 10 km carbonaceous impactor as a case study. It explains that warning time depends on the object’s origin, speed (~21 km/s), and whether it brightens from outgassing; best-case scenarios could offer weeks to a month of naked-eye visibility if the body comes from the night side and becomes bright, but more typical cases might yield only days or hours, or no warning at all if it’s sun-ward or depleted of volatiles. It also highlights how albedo and orbital geometry affect detectability, and stresses the need for planetary defense to gain decades of lead time for meaningful intervention.

via Big Think|

#albedo #asteroid #chicxulub

science10 days ago•9 min saved

Tunguska 1908: How a Siberian Skyburst Redefined Our View of Space Threats

A 1908 Tunguska skyburst over Siberia flattened forests across a vast area without a crater, forcing a shift in meteor science toward recognizing airbursts and the potential for atmospheric explosions to cause widespread damage. The long-standing asteroid-or-comet identity debate persisted for decades, but later events like Chelyabinsk highlighted the real threat of such bursts. Today, improved detection and defense efforts—through projects like NASA's NEO Surveyor, the Vera Rubin Observatory, and the DART mission—aim to forecast and, if needed, alter the course of hazardous near-Earth objects, though warning times remain highly dependent on an object's approach vector.

via NDTV|

#airburst #chelyabinsk #near-earth-objects

science11 days ago•6 min saved

A Decade of Planetary Defense: Gains Made, But More Skywatching Is Needed

International Asteroid Day marks 10 years of progress in defending Earth from space rocks, with nearly 40,000 near-Earth objects identified and NASA's DART mission proving a redirect of an asteroid is possible. Yet experts warn we still lack enough telescopes to spot all threats; the upcoming Near-Earth Object Surveyor aims to detect two-thirds of potentially hazardous asteroids, as events like the 2029 Apophis close approach highlight the ongoing need for vigilant skywatching.

via ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos|

#asteroids #dart #near-earth-object-surveyor

space-exploration13 days ago•125 min saved

Hayabusa2 to skim Torifune from a room-temperature: ultra-close asteroid flyby on tap

Japan’s Hayabusa2, on an extended mission after Ryugu, will perform one of the closest asteroid flybys by a mission of its class, approaching Torifune to within about 1 kilometer at ~5.3 km/s on July 5 to study its shape and properties and test rapid reconnaissance for planetary defense—with a long-term aim to visit the tiny asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031, potentially landing there.

via Space|

#1998-ky26 #asteroid #hayabusa2

space17 days ago•4 min saved

Kilometer-Sized Asteroid to Pass Safely by Earth This Weekend

A near-Earth object roughly a kilometer across, officially designated 1997 NC1 (also named 152637), will pass by Earth on June 27 in what scientists describe as a safe, close approach. While headlines may suggest danger, current calculations show no impact risk for at least the next century, and such passes help researchers refine asteroid tracking and defense techniques.

via WRAL|

#1997-nc1 #asteroid #nasa

space29 days ago•11 min saved

DART proves humanity can nudge an asteroid's orbit

NASA’s DART deliberately struck Dimorphos, a small moonlet of Didymos, at about 6 km/s and shortened its orbital period around Didymos by roughly 33 minutes—a result well beyond the required 73 seconds for success—largely due to ejecta momentum (beta ~3.6). This confirmed that a kinetic-impact deflection can alter an asteroid’s trajectory if done years in advance, though the exact effectiveness depends on the target’s composition; ESA’s Hera mission, launched in 2024, will measure Dimorphos’s mass and crater to turn the result into a calibrated figure ahead of any future planetary-defense decisions.

via Space Daily|

#dart #didymos #dimorphos

science1 month ago•13 min saved

The Tunguska Mystery: The 1908 Airburst That Flattened a Forest Without a Crater

In 1908 a space object exploded over Siberia in an airburst, releasing roughly 10–15 megatons of energy and flattening about 80 million trees across 830 square miles, with no crater and a ring of standing trees at the center. Scientists still debate whether it was a stony asteroid or a comet; the asteroid answer fits the ground damage while the comet explanation could account for the eerie skyglow seen across Europe. No fragment has ever been found, and the event helped spur modern planetary defense efforts, including NASA’s DART mission.

via Space Daily|

#airburst #asteroid #comet

science1 month ago•11 min saved

Hawking's Multi-Planet Survival Plan Gains Urgency as Risks Accelerate

Eight years after Stephen Hawking's death, the threats he warned about—climate change, AI, pandemics, nuclear threats, and asteroid impacts—have accelerated, validating his argument that humanity should spread beyond Earth as a form of insurance; while planetary defense has modestly improved, the overall trajectory is toward greater vulnerability, making the call to become a multi-planet species more urgent than ever.

via Space Daily|

#ai-safety #climate-change #hawking

space2 months ago•5 min saved

ESA and JAXA Unite on Ramses: A Historic Mission to Study Apophis and Boost Planetary Defense

ESA and JAXA signed an agreement to launch the Ramses mission to the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, with a planned 2028 launch and a 2029 rendezvous during its close Earth flyby at about 32,000 km. The mission aims to study how Apophis behaves under Earth's gravity and to collect data that could improve asteroid deflection and monitoring strategies, informing future planetary-defense efforts. ESA will lead spacecraft design and operations, JAXA will contribute lightweight solar arrays and an infrared imager, and ESA’s NEO Coordination Centre will refine orbital predictions ahead of the flyby. This collaboration showcases international partnership as a cornerstone of global space safety.”,

via The Daily Galaxy|

#apophis #esa #international-cooperation

space-exploration2 months ago•75 min saved

Private mission eyes asteroid Apophis for a new era in planetary defense

ExLabsproposes Apophis EX, a first-of-its-kind commercial deep-space ride-share mission to rendezvous with asteroid Apophis before and after its 2029 Earth flyby, gathering data to refine planetary-defense models, enable resource prospecting, and jump-start repeatable deep-space exploration through private–public partnerships.

via Space|

#apophis #exlabs #near-earth-asteroids

science2 months ago•4 min saved

Apophis 2029 Flyby: Naked-Eye Close Encounter Near Earth

NASA says the 1,230-foot asteroid Apophis, nicknamed the God of Chaos, will skim within about 20,000 miles of Earth in 2029—closer than many satellites and bright enough to be seen with the naked eye—providing a historic opportunity for observation and planetary-defense research; there is no threat to Earth, and the asteroid will return in 2036 much farther away.

via geekspin|

#apophis #asteroid #nasa