Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft reaches cosmic 'diamond'

A Japanese spacecraft has arrived at its target - an asteroid shaped like a diamond or, according to some, a spinning top.

'Minute Difference' In Deadly Asteroid's Trajectory Could Have Saved Dinosaurs

The asteroid impact which killed the dinosaurs would not have had the same devastating impact had it landed elsewhere on Earth, according to a new study which compares the probability of extinction at different possible sites of an asteroid strike.

Potentially Habitable 'Super-Earths' Found Orbiting around Sun's near Neighbor

Two planets that orbit around a star like our own sun could support life, according to new research.

Chute d’astéroïdes: un danger encore plus grand que le feu et les tsunamis dévoilé

Si des astéroïdes tombaient sur Terre, le plus grand danger émanerait non pas des pluies de feu et des tsunamis mais… du vent généré par le choc.

Large asteroid to hurtle past Earth on April 18

An asteroid as big as the Rock of Gibraltar will streak past Earth on April 18 at a safe but uncomfortably close distance, according to astronomers.

NovaGea eco News (November 2015)

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Japan's space agency JAXA has announced the results of a competition to name asteroid 1999 JU3, the 980-metre-wide space rock it hopes to target with its sample-return mission Hayabusa2.

The agency chose the name Ryugu from over 7,000 suggestions.................Asteroid on which Japan's space agency will detonate explosives in 2018, to be called "Ryugu"

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 Eco Geo News-2 (October 2015)

Κανένας αστεροειδής δεν απειλεί τη γη (NASA)

Οι κάτοικοι της Γης μπορούν να κοιμούνται ήσυχα: κανένας τεράστιος αστεροειδής δεν απειλεί να εισέλθει σε τροχιά σύγκρουσης με τον πλανήτη μας και να καταστρέψει την Αμερική το Σεπτέμβριο, διαβεβαιώνει η ΝΑΣΑ, σε μια προσπάθεια να βάλει ένα τέλος στις σχετικές φήμες που έχουν κατακλύσει το Διαδίκτυο.

Mayisin Geo News (May 2015 -A)

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Environ 500 astéroïdes menacent potentiellement la Terre, mais des solutions, relevant pour le commun des mortels de la science-fiction, sont envisagées par les experts de l'Agence spatiale européenne (ESA), réunis cette semaine à Frascati, près de Rome.....Cinq cents astéroïdes menacent potentiellement la Terre

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(April 2015 - Β) 

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(April 2015 - A) 

Mountain-Sized, 500-Meter-Wide Asteroid to Whizz By Earth on Monday

An asteroid, designated 2004 BL86, is set to pass near Earth on Monday, according to NASA.

The 500-meter-wide rock may seem apocalyptic in size, but thankfully it will pass no closer than 1.2 million kilometers of our planet — about three times the distance between Earth and the moon. The agency says it will provide a rare opportunity to get a good look at a near-Earth asteroid.

Asteroid to dart between moon and Earth. -The asteroid, named 2014 DX110

[An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube by user @wowforreeel]

An Apollo class asteroid is expected to whizz between the Earth and the moon on March 5. The 98-foot-wide space rock is expected to come within 218,000 miles of earth (0.9 lunar distances), creating quite the site for stargazers.
The asteroid, named 2014 DX110, is expected to make its closest approach at 21:07 GMT on Wednesday at a blistering speed of 14.85 km/s (32,076 mph). Although the space rock poses no threat to earth, it highlights the earth’s susceptibility to near-Earth asteroids.

Russia, US Plan to Jointly Fight Space Threats

MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti) – Russian and US experts are planning to join efforts in protecting our planet against thousands of potentially hazardous near-Earth space bodies, Russia’s emergencies minister said.

“The collision with the Chelyabinsk meteorite last year showed that space threats could be real and as destructive as huge fires or natural disasters on Earth,” Vladimir Puchkov said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta to be published on Tuesday.
The minister said a joint working group would be set up in the near future to develop solutions to counter space threats.

Δέκα φορές υψηλότερος του αναμενομένου ο κίνδυνος πρόσκρουσης αστεροειδή στη Γη./Hazardous asteroids may be more numerous than previously thought, scientists say.

Σήμα κινδύνου για την αύξηση περιστατικών όπως αυτό που συνέβη στο Τσελιάμπινσκ τον περασμένο Φεβρουάριο αφήνοντας πίσω του 1.200 τραυματίες εκπέμπει σχετική μελέτη που δημοσιεύθηκε στο περιοδικό Nature.

Όπως αναφέρουν τα μέλη της επιστημονικής ομάδας που τη συνέταξε, διαστημικοί βράχοι παρόμοιου μεγέθους με αυτόν που εξερράγη πάνω από το Τσελιάμπινσκ εμφανίζονται στην τροχιά της Γης με εκπληκτική συχνότητα.

Γι' αυτό και ζητούν την ενεργοποίηση συστημάτων έγκαιρης προειδοποίησης.

Fighting Asteroids a New Task for Russia’s Space Industry...

MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s space agency has a new mission on its plate: fighting asteroids, the organization’s head said Sunday.
Oleg Ostapenko, chief of the Roscosmos federal space agency, said that meetings had been arranged with the Russian Academy of Sciences to discuss the project and later confer with scientists. “It’s an interesting topic,” he said.

Detecting and combating threatening space rocks is a complex task, Ostapenko added, which may also require teamwork with Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces. The issue “can be solved only within the framework of all our country’s possibilities,” he said.

Il mondo finirà nel 2032. -L' asteroide dovrebbe passare a circa 1 milione e mezzo di chilometri dalla terra, troppo vicino per stare tranquilli. (video CNN)

L’asteroide 2013 TV135, che misura 410 metri, potrebbe colpire il nostro pianeta, provocando un’esplosione paragonabile a 50 bombe atomiche.

 Nonostante le possibilità siano molto basse, una su 63.000 secondo la “scala Torino” che misura la pericolosità di questi corpi celesti, gli scienziati hanno inserito questo oggetto spaziale nella lista degli asteroidi pericolosi. Quando? Nel 2032. E' stato scoperto nella costellazione delle Giraffe dall’”Osservatorio della Crimea” nel Sud dell’Ucraina da Gennady Borisov.

Diversi astronomi di tutto il mondo hanno specificato che questo asteroide dovrebbe passare a circa 1 milione e mezzo di chilometri dalla terra, troppo vicino per stare tranquilli.

Russian Scientist Proposes Satan Missiles to Fight Asteroid Threats

YEKATERINBURG, June 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia can use Soviet-era SS-18 Satan heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles to destroy celestial bodies posing a threat to Earth, a Russian scientist said on Sunday, four months after a powerful meteor struck Russia’s Urals region.

“Carrier rockets created on the basis of intercontinental ballistic missiles like Voyevoda [the Soviet name of Satan missiles], which use standard liquid fuel based on hydrazine, are well-suited for fighting suddenly discovered small [space] objects,” said Sabit Saitgarayev, a senior researcher at the State Rocket Design Center in the city of Miass in the Chelyabinsk Region.
“They [missiles] can stay in the condition of their readiness for launch for ten and more years, after some reequipping,” the scientist said.

Γιγάντιος αστεροειδής κατευθύνεται προς τη Γη/Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 DA14 will not hit Earth-VIDEO

Ένας αστεροειδής, που θα περάσει κοντά από τη Γη σε 2 βδομάδες, θα βρεθεί στην πιο κοντινή απόσταση σε αυτή.


Η απόσταση μεταξύ του αστεροειδούς και της Γης τη στιγμή της μέγιστης προσέγγισης θα αποτελέσει 17000 χλμ. Κάτι τέτοιο δεν έχει ξανασυμβεί στη σύγχρονη ιστορία του πλανήτη μας.

Ο αστεροειδής 2012DA14, που ανακαλύφθηκε από το ισπανικό αστεροσκοπείο της Λα Σάγκρα, θα πλησιάσει τη Γη στις 15 Φεβρουαρίου. Θα βρεθεί πιο κοντά, απ’ ότι ορισμένοι τεχνητοί δορυφόροι της Γης.