European Space Agency launches asteroid deflection project in effort to knock asteroid off its earth-bound course

The European Space Agency has launched its Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) project in an effort to search for a way to counter the threat of an earth-bound asteroid, potentially by knocking the asteroid off its course. The idea is to send two small spacecraft to intercept an steroid known as 65803 Didymos, and…

The 1,000-foot-wide Apophis asteroid is set to buzz the Earth on Wednesday (1/9/13) passing a mere 9 million miles above Earth, but the chances of a fateful impact are next to nil (but keep holding your breath, there’s a better chance in 2029 when it passes only 18,000 miles from the Earth’s surface). Still, Apophis…

The Chinese lunar orbiter Chang’e 2 has completed a maneuver that allowed a close flyby of asteroid 4179 Toutatis, a five-kilometer (three mile) long space rock that recently had a “close” encounter with Earth. The flyby was made on December 13, 2012. According to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency, the probe made a close approach…

A newly discovered asteroid, 2012 XE54, and an old-timer, 4179 Toutatis, are buzzing Earth today. Asteroid 2012 XE54 was only discovered a few days ago (December 9) and passed between the Earth and Moon at a distance of 141,000 miles. In a rare event, it was also eclipsed by Earth’s shadow as it passed. The…

On Monday, NASA released images of asteroid 2007 PA8 that were shot as the asteroid passed Earth on October 28, 29, and 30. The one mile wide Asteroid 2007 PA8 5.6 passed Earth on November 5 at a distance of 4 million miles (about 17 times the distance between the Earth and Moon). This is…

A thousand foot chunk of rock, named Apophis, is on schedule to buzz the Earth on April 13, 2029. For those superstitious types, that’s Friday the 13th. Apophis is expected to pass a mere 23,600 miles from Earth which is a “close call” by astronomical measurements.

For those anxiously awaiting December 21, 2012, here’s a little thriller for you. In a few hours, an asteroid (named 2012 QG42) the size of three football fields will be making a close pass by Earth. We would have warned you earlier but, eh, the astronomy geeks just spotted it a few weeks ago.