SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Asteroids have also been flown by and studied by numerous NASA space missions. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was launched by NASA in 2016 to investigate the asteroid Bennu, which is close to the Earth. After several years of research on Bennu, OSIRIS-REx collected a sample of pebbles and dust from the asteroid’s surface.

Detailed explanation-2: -Meteoritics is the science that deals with meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids. It is closely connected to cosmochemistry, mineralogy and geochemistry. A specialist who studies meteoritics is known as a meteoriticist.

Detailed explanation-3: -Not exactly. We know about the vast majority of larger ones and none of those pose an impact threat to Earth, but space is big, so we’re always on the lookout. NASA asteroid expert Dr. Amy Mainzer explains.

Detailed explanation-4: -The scientific interest in asteroids is due largely to their status as the remnant debris from the inner solar system formation process. Because some of these objects can collide with the Earth, asteroids are also important for having significantly modified the Earth’s biosphere in the past.

Detailed explanation-5: -Scientists believe that asteroids are pieces of rock that were never swept up into planets. Like the planets, asteroids are kept in orbit by the gravity of the Sun. Most of the asteroids in the solar system lie in the Asteroid Belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Detailed explanation-6: -Asteroids and comets help astronomers trace solar system evolution. NASA said: Most of the material that formed our solar system, including Earth, didn’t live to tell the tale. It fell into the sun or was ejected beyond the reaches of our most powerful telescopes; only a small fraction formed the planets.