A tiny asteroid is flying safely within a few thousand kilometers of the Earth right now. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://neo.ssa.esa.int/documents/d/guest/close-approach-fact-sheet-for-asteroid-c9fmvu2-pdf

Asteroids are like onions--they have layers
#BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/rubble-pile-asteroid-bennu-has-layers/

Taking the Mr. Burns approach to combating climate change. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2023/07/31/sun-umbrella-tethered-asteroid/

A new book from University of Arizona Press will feature #asteroid Bennu in 3D. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://tucson.com/news/local/queen-guitarist-writes-asteroid-book-university-of-arizona/article_b4949f66-2721-11ee-a1c8-ef115f270dea.html

The OSIRIS-REx team continues to prepare for the spacecraft to deliver its sample, having recently completed their most realistic rehearsal yet. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/2023/07/20/heres-what-asteroid-sample-recovery-will-look-like/

Monitoring potential asteroid impactors has taken over the top spot in Pew Research Center's 2023 survey of the public's opinion on NASA's priorities. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/07/20/americans-views-of-space-u-s-role-nasa-priorities-and-impact-of-private-companies/

It looks like DART really caused a shake-up on Dimorphos! Three dozen boulders have been dislodged from the asteroid's surface and are being tracked with the Hubble Space Telescope: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-008?fbclid=IwAR2p7LweIj5Xw4dhy9HcBJhMucbpkkY4zIwwohSbokdZOx39IKXvNTCtlPs
#BetterKnowAnAsteroid

Good mornin', stardust
The scientists on Earth say, "hello"
#BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187815750/ryugu-hayabusa-stardust-sprinkled-asteroid

RIP Janus.
These small, twin spacecraft were meant to ride into space alongside with the Psyche mission, but the latter's launch delay left Janus unable to reach its intended targets. They'll be stored in case money materializes to launch them on a new mission. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://blogs.nasa.gov/janus/2023/07/11/nasa-to-store-janus-spacecraft-mission-to-study-asteroid-systems/

According to NASA's Launch Services Program, the Psyche space is nearing flight readiness, with only its solar panels and imagers awaiting installation. Launch is scheduled for October. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid

The OSIRIS-REx team is practicing the recovery process that will be used when the sample capsule is dropped off in September! #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/2023/07/06/practicing-the-game-winning-asteroid-sample-catch/

Today is #AsteroidDay. https://asteroidday.org/
#BetterKnowAnAsteroid

Check out the new lab that's been prepared for the OSIRIS-REx samples of #asteroid Bennu. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-osiris-rex-asteroid-sample-will-have-new-home-in-houston

The Geminid meteor shower originates from Phaethon, but why is this #asteroid leaving a trail of debris along its orbit? Observations from the Parker Solar Probe suggest a violent origin: https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2023/06/14/scientists-shed-light-on-the-unusual-origin-of-a-familiar-meteor-shower/
#BetterKnowAnAsteroid

Salt grains found in the samples collected by Hayabusa from #asteroid Itokawa suggest its parent body had plenty of water, and may offer clues about how Earth got its water. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://news.arizona.edu/story/pass-salt-space-rock-holds-clues-how-earth-got-its-water

#TeamRadar has been busy! Measurements from the Goldstone Planetary Radar antenna at Goldstone reveal #asteroid 2006 HV5 to be an oblate rubble pile the width of 10 blue whales! #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia25834-nasas-planetary-radar-images-asteroid-2006-hv5

It took over 100 telescopes on two continents, but the Lucy mission team caught another glimpse of the tiny moon orbiting its Trojan #asteroid target Polymele during a recent occultation. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
http://lucy.swri.edu/SpottingASatellite.html

A new study of #asteroid Phaethon using SOHO data casts doubt on previous explanations of its comet-like behavior at perihelion, as well as the event(s) that created the Geminid meteoroid stream. Here's ESA's summary of this new work, complete with a reminder that the DESTINY+ mission is expected to visit Phaethon in about five years to #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/SOHO_chases_asteroid_s_tail

The Trojan flybys will not be Lucy's first targets. The spacecraft will zip past a small main belt asteroid named Dinkinesh on Nov. 1st of this year, and then Donaldjohanson in April of 2025. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-lucy-team-announces-new-asteroid-target

NASA's Lucy mission, launched in October 2021 and visiting its first Trojan asteroid target in 2027, has already captured its first views of these distant worlds. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-lucy-mission-snaps-its-first-views-of-trojan-asteroid-targets