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Asteroid 1998 QE2 passes Earth with moon in tow

Brittany Hillen — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:07:07 +0000

NASA has published a series of images taken of the asteroid 1998 QE2, which were snapped yesterday via the Deep Space Network Antenna in California. Although the asteroid was located 3.75 million miles away, its relative distance was quite close, and it brought with it a moon, which is smaller in diameter and visible in

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Giant asteroid 1998 QE2 to pass Earth on May 31

Brittany Hillen — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:53:15 +0000

A giant asteroid called 1998 QE2, named after the year it was discovered, is slated to whiz past Earth on May 31, something it won’t do again for another 200 years. The asteroid is said to measure in at about 1.7-miles long, and although it will be about 3.6 million miles away from Earth as

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NASA records largest explosion ever on the Moon

Craig Lloyd — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:17:09 +0000

NASA scientists have recorded what they say is the largest explosion ever seen on the Moon. A meteoroid roughly the size of a small boulder crashed into the moon, creating a large explosion that NASA says could have been seen with the naked eye. The meteoroid was said to have weighed around 90 pounds and

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NASA spots comet that could be the brightest in decades

Craig Lloyd — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:40:42 +0000

It may not be as spectacular has the asteroid that flew over Russia back in February, but researchers and astronomers have been eyeing a particular comet in the skies that will pass by Earth later this year, and it’s said that it has the potential of being one of the brightest comets we’ll have seen

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Canada launches NEOSSat to keep an eye out for asteroids

Brittany Hillen — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:41:08 +0000

More than a few asteroids have neared our planet this year, with some getting pretty close, relatively speaking. This has prompted a variety of theories on how to deal with them, such as laser beams that will evaporate threatening space rock. Less an asteroid sneak up on us, Canada has launched the Near-Earth Object Surveillance

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Fireball makes its way across the sky in Northern California

Brian Sin — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:53:51 +0000

It looks like Russia isn’t the only place getting some astronomical action. Within the same day that a meteor exploded over Russia and injured around 1200 people, folks over in Northern California spotted a ‘meteor’ zipping across the sky. The spectacle was caught on video by a couple of people driving in the San Francisco

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Scientist propose solar-based DE-STAR asteroid destroyer

Brittany Hillen — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:39:15 +0000

It has been an eventful year for space enthusiasts, with it seeming like a new asteroid is announced every week, each one coming closer and closer to our blue marble. Then, just a few days ago, a large asteroid smashed into Russia, injuring over 1000 people. Now a researcher and a physicist have teamed up

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Fly-by asteroid said to be worth $195b in materials

Craig Lloyd — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:01:27 +0000

Late last month, we told you about an asteroid that will fly by the Earth at close proximity on February 15. Essentially, it will squeeze its way in between the Earth and the Moon, which is actually really close, and one company is saying that the asteroid is worth $195 billion in materials, such as

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Herschel Space Observatory finds Apophis asteroid is larger than believed

Brittany Hillen — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:51:00 +0000

The large Apophis asteroid passed by Earth a few days ago, some 9,000,000 miles from our fair planet. The asteroid, which is named after an Egyptian demon, was said to measure 270 to 275 meters wide. The European Space Astronomy Center’s Herschel Space Observatory observed as it neared, however, that it is much larger than

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120 foot wide asteroid passes closer to Earth than the moon

Chris Burns — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:33:24 +0000

If you’re worried about asteroids smacking the planet on a daily basis, you’ll be less than excited to hear that a giant rock approximately 120 feet wide just passed between Earth and our moon. This is extremely close to the planet Earth for an asteroid of that size, if you did not know, and at

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Fighting asteroids with paintballs: an MIT graduate student’s winning strategy

Brittany Hillen — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 00:15:40 +0000

It’s like something out a strange science fiction movie: a giant asteroid careening towards earth is diverted using a massive blast of paintballs fired into space, saving mankind and forever giving paintball-lovers bragging rights over airsoft fans. As odd as it sounds, this very proposal earned Sung Wook Paek, Department of Aeronautics and Astronauts at

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Asteroid the size of a house to pass Earth tonight

Brittany Hillen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 00:05:34 +0000

Tonight, an asteroid the size of a house – dubbed 2012 TC4 by NASA - will pass by Earth, coming in at one-quarter of the distance between the moon and this rock we call home (aka, 59,000 miles). The 2012 TC4 asteroid was discovered on October 4th, and scientists say it does not pose a

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Students find that no bomb is powerful enough to destroy “Armageddon” asteroid

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:14:40 +0000

A group of students from the University of Leicester has announced that they have debunked the premise of the Bruce Willis flick Armageddon. If you’re a fan of science fiction, you might recall the 1998 movie where Bruce Willis and his band of well drilling experts were sent the surface of an asteroid on a

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Former astronauts push private asteroid hunting Sentinel telescope project

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:23:23 +0000

Two former astronauts who went into space during different eras are working together to push a new private space telescope that will help detect asteroids in time to give humanity a chance to react. The two astronauts are Apollo moon pilot Rusty Schweickart and space shuttle astronaut Ed Lu. The two astronauts are at the

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