Asteroid

A first-of-a-kind NASA launch took place over the weekend, setting the agency's Lucy spacecraft on a pioneering path toward Jupiter to study an unprecedented number of asteroids as part of a single mission.

About 66 million years ago, a gigantic object crashed into the Earth, triggering a mass extinction that took out the dinosaurs. Now, scientists say they’ve traced the culprit back to its point of origin, identifying it as a “dark primitive asteroid.”

Around 66 million years ago, a gigantic asteroid smashed into the Earth and ended the reign of the dinosaurs. Now, researchers have discovered direct evidence of this cataclysm – fossilized “megaripples” from the tsunamis that immediately followed.

Tardigrades are some of the toughest known lifeforms, and it’s been proposed they could seed life through asteroid impacts. Now, researchers have tested the hypothesis by firing tardigrades from a gun into sand, and checking how well they survived.

NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) robotic deep-space probe is returning from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, beginning its 2.5-year journey to Earth laden with samples.

If you were worried about asteroid 99942 Apophis hitting the Earth in 2068, you can relax for at least another century. A new survey has confirmed that the probability of it colliding with us then is too low for it to be regarded as a threat.

A new study has analyzed asteroid dust recently discovered in the Chicxulub asteroid crater. The findings further support the theory that the dramatic impact was the cause of the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.

According to a new study, the impactor that smashed into Earth’s surface millions of years ago – causing the global extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs – may have originated from a vast sphere of icy debris that surrounds the solar system.

NASA has set the timeline for the return of its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which will carry samples from the asteroid Bennu for analysis back on Earth. Prior to making the journey, the probe will conduct a final flyby of the wandering solar system body.

Space exploration in 2021 will see some major milestones to look forward to. From maiden flights to fiery endings, long-awaited launches to history-making first steps, here are some of the biggest upcoming events in space exploration this year.

It's rare that gravel gets scientists so excited, but these are no ordinary rocks. This is the first glimpse of the samples returned to Earth by Hayabusa2 after its 5.24-billion-km round trip to asteroid Ryugu.

The re-entry capsule carrying samples of the asteroid Ryugu collected by Japan's Hayabusa2 deep-space probe has returned to Earth and been recovered after blazing a fiery path in the night sky over Australia.