Dawn Arrives at Ceres

Mission controllers have confirmed that the planetary exploration spacecraft Dawn has entered orbit around the largest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres. 

Asteroid to do a Flyby on January 26 2015

Don't get your knickers in a knot however.  Asteroid 2004 BL86   will indeed make the closest approach of an asteroid of this size until asteroid 1999 AN10 makes its approach in 2027. Asteroid 2004 Bl86 poses no threat to Earth for the foreseeable future.  

 

Asteroid 2004 BL86  is approximately a third of a mile wide. Compare that to the asteroid Vesta, which is about the size of the state of Arizona. 

Read the complete C/Net article HERE

Spitzer Notices Cosmic Smash-up

Scientists studying star NGC 2547-ID8 witnessed a  huge amount of new dust between  August 2012 and January 2013.  Speculation has it that two very large asteroids collided in that system. 

While asteroid collisions have been observed by Spitzer before, this is the first time scientists have collected data before and after a smashup - offering a glimpse into the process of making planets like ours.

Check out the NASA site for the complete article HERE

NASA Stll Has Plans for a Manned Asteroid Mission

As you can see in this short video, NASA still hopes to be able to put astronauts on an asteroid in the not to distant future. Plans are to possibly put astronauts on the surface of an asteroid some time in the 2020s.

To view the water tank experiments click HERE

As you can see, people are still training in simulated environment for this extremely difficult mission.

You can read the complete CNN tech article HERE