A NASA spacecraft sent out to collect rocks from an asteroid seems to have nabbed a lot of material, but there's now an unexpected problem — a flap isn't closing because some rocks are stuck.
NASA is getting ready to collect its first sample from an asteroid ever. The rocks and dust could help us understand potentially dangerous space rocks and the history of the solar system.
A fictitious asteroid is the focus of a realistic exercise, as experts at the Planetary Defense Conference run through how the Earth would respond to news of a looming asteroid strike.
The mission includes a plan to bring a sample back to Earth. It's the first time humans have been able to study a C-type asteroid at such a close range for an extended period.
The celestial body was discovered in the same year Mercury died at age 45. It was dedicated to the singer in honor of what would have been his 70th birthday, his bandmate Brian May announced.
Scientists drilling beneath the Gulf of Mexico have hit the layer deposited when an asteroid the size of Staten Island, N.Y., hit Earth. Samples might contain details from that fateful day.
