Lifeboat Foundation

That’s one way to rock the vote.

An asteroid with a diameter the size of a refrigerator could strike the Earth the day before the November election, according to celebrity scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson — but it’s not large enough to do any serious damage.

The famed astrophysicist said the space rock, known as 2018VP1, is hurtling towards Earth at a speed of 25,000 miles per hour and may clip the planet on Nov. 2.

Continue reading “Neil deGrasse Tyson warns asteroid could hit Earth day before election” »

Meteorite impacts may be a good thing — but only sometimes.

Craters could create habitable conditions on many planets and moons.

A meteoroid skimmed Earth’s atmosphere for 19 seconds over the Netherlands and Germany. The object came in as low as 56 miles in altitude, covering a path of more than 466 miles.

This asteroid isn’t socially distancing with Earth very well.

US space agency NASA has forecast a recently-spotted asteroid, 2020 SW, for a fly-by on Thursday. It will fly by at an agonising distance of around 17,000 miles – closer than a weather satellite.

Darmstadt, 15 September 2020. – The European Space Agency (ESA) awarded a €129.4 million contract covering the design, manufacturing and testing of Hera, the space agency’s first mission for planetary defence, ESA announced today.

The contract was signed by Franco Ongaro, ESA Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, and Marco Fuchs, CEO of Germany space company OHB, prime contractor of the Hera consortium, ESA said today. The signing took place at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, which will serve as mission control for the 2024-launched Hera.

The mission will be Europe’s contribution to an international asteroid deflection effort, set to perform sustained exploration of a double asteroid system, ESA said.

Continue reading “ESA awards €129.4 million contract to planetary defence mission Hera” »

ASTEROID trackers at US-based space agency NASA have revealed a trio of cosmic rocks will safely skim past Earth today.

A HUGE meteor streaked in the skies above California, leaving onlookers stunned with one claiming it was “a close call”.

It is reported that the dimensions of the celestial body are from 22 to 49 meters. According to the space agency, at the minimum distance to the planet – about 120 thousand kilometers – the asteroid will come up at 19.12 Moscow time. The asteroid is moving at 8.16 kilometers per second.

Note that the celestial body was discovered on March 2, 2011. It belongs to the group of “Apollo”, that is, asteroids, whose flight paths cross the Earth’s orbit.