JPL and the Space Age: The Hunt for Space Rocks

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory・2 minutes read

Earth receives space dust daily, with larger objects visible as meteors; one struck Anne Hodges in 1954; asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, while comets are in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud; comets and asteroids formed 4.5 billion years ago from gas and dust, potentially seeding Earth with life's building blocks; NASA intensifies efforts to track and protect against asteroid impacts, using ground telescopes and the NEOWISE space telescope to discover potential threats.

Insights

  • Earth receives tons of space dust daily, with larger objects occasionally visible as meteors. Surviving meteors are called meteorites, with one striking Anne Hodges in Alabama in 1954. The impact events, even on the back side and rotating into view about an hour later, are visible from Earth for ground telescopes to witness.
  • NASA's planetary protection efforts are crucial, with tracking asteroids and comets playing a significant role. Despite their destructive potential, comets and asteroids, formed billions of years ago, may have seeded Earth with life's building blocks. Various international missions, such as JPL's Lucy Mission and NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission, aim to explore and collect samples from asteroids, providing valuable insights into the universe's origins and potential threats to Earth.

Get key ideas from YouTube videos. It’s free

Recent questions

  • How did the extinction of dinosaurs occur?

    The extinction of dinosaurs occurred 65 million years ago due to an asteroid impact, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and many other species. This catastrophic event changed the course of evolution on Earth, paving the way for the rise of mammals and eventually humans.

  • What is the significance of tracking asteroids and comets?

    Tracking asteroids and comets is crucial for NASA's planetary protection efforts. By monitoring these celestial bodies, scientists can predict potential impacts on Earth and take necessary measures to prevent catastrophic events. Understanding the trajectories of asteroids and comets is essential for safeguarding our planet and ensuring the safety of life on Earth.

  • How were rocky planets like Earth and Mars formed?

    Rocky planets like Earth and Mars were created through collisions in the solar system. These planets formed from the accumulation of dust and gas in the early stages of the solar system's evolution. The process of planetary formation involved numerous collisions and interactions between celestial bodies, eventually giving rise to the rocky planets we see today.

  • Where are asteroids and comets located in the solar system?

    Asteroids are located between Mars and Jupiter, forming the asteroid belt, while comets are mostly found in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud. These regions of the solar system are home to a vast number of asteroids and comets, each with unique characteristics and trajectories. Studying these celestial bodies provides valuable insights into the history and composition of our solar system.

  • How do comets and asteroids contribute to the origins of life on Earth?

    Comets and asteroids, despite their destructive potential, may have seeded Earth with life's building blocks. These celestial bodies contain organic molecules and water, which are essential for the development of life. The impact events caused by comets and asteroids could have brought these crucial elements to Earth, playing a significant role in the origins of life on our planet.

Related videos

Summary

00:00

Space Dust, Meteors, and Asteroids: Earth's Story

  • Earth receives tons of space dust daily, with larger objects occasionally visible as meteors.
  • Surviving meteors are called meteorites, with one striking Anne Hodges in Alabama in 1954.
  • A 50-yard asteroid crashed in Arizona 50,000 years ago, forming a 600-foot deep crater.
  • The asteroid impact 65 million years ago led to the extinction of dinosaurs and many species.
  • Tracking asteroids and comets is crucial for NASA's planetary protection efforts.
  • Comets and asteroids formed four and a half billion years ago from interstellar gas and dust.
  • Rocky planets like Earth and Mars were created through collisions in the solar system.
  • Asteroids are between Mars and Jupiter, while comets are mostly in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud.
  • Comets light up as they approach the sun, with long tails of gas and dust.
  • Comets and asteroids, despite their destructive potential, may have seeded Earth with life's building blocks.

20:13

Asteroid impacts spark NASA's advanced missions.

  • Impact events occurred on the back side and rotated into view about an hour later, visible from Earth for ground telescopes to witness.
  • Sensational press coverage ensued, including a tabloid predicting a comet crash causing a U.S. Ice Age, unverified by government agencies to prevent panic.
  • Computer modelers within the DOD were eager for a 100 million Megaton impact on Earth to refine their calculations.
  • Yeoman's witty remarks masked serious implications, with computer modelers adjusting their code for Jupiter due to lack of data on Earth impacts.
  • Shoemaker Levy-9's fragments impacted Jupiter, creating massive fireballs and plumes rising thousands of miles above the atmosphere.
  • Larger fragments released millions of megatons of energy upon impact, with one collision generating 6 million megatons of TNT explosive energy.
  • NASA's response to potential asteroid impacts intensified after a false prediction, leading to a directive to discover 90% of near-earth objects.
  • Ground telescopes hunt for asteroids, but an infrared Space Telescope, NEOWISE, excels at discovering and determining the sizes of these objects.
  • NEOWISE's successor, the Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission, aims to map out potentially hazardous objects, focusing on those large enough to cause severe regional damage.
  • Deep Space 1, utilizing ion propulsion, tested advanced technologies for future missions, achieving autonomous navigation and high velocities with gentle thrust.

40:30

Spacecraft Overcomes Thrusting Issue to Reach Comet

  • Mission Control and hallway personnel were excited about the spacecraft's thrusting issue
  • The team attempted to diagnose the problem after the spacecraft stopped thrusting
  • Commands were issued to restart the engine and radiate a command to the DSN file
  • Multiple attempts were made to restart the engine, all resulting in failure
  • The ion propulsion system was expected to thrust for 200 hours but only managed 4.5 minutes
  • Contamination in the Thruster from launch may have caused the issue
  • The spacecraft was turned to loosen particles, and after two weeks, the propulsion system was tested again
  • The spacecraft successfully used ion propulsion, enabling navigation and propelling it towards a comet
  • The spacecraft faced a crisis when the star tracker malfunctioned, leaving it disoriented
  • A new software was sent to reconfigure the camera as a star tracker, allowing the mission to continue and reach the comet

01:04:04

"Stardust Survives Comet Encounter, Returns Samples"

  • Stardust spacecraft survived closest approach to a comet, capturing thousands of particles and images.
  • Initial expectations of the comet's appearance were vastly different from reality, with towering pinnacles and steep cliffs.
  • Dozens of jets bombarded Stardust during the flyby, posing a greater danger than anticipated.
  • Stardust began its two-year journey back to Earth with comet and interstellar particles on board.
  • Stardust's capsule was to endure intense heat during re-entry, followed by a parachute deployment for a soft landing in Utah.
  • Genesis mission's failed parachute landing highlighted the importance of a successful landing for Stardust.
  • Stardust's re-entry speed of nearly 29,000 miles per hour set a record for human-made objects.
  • Stardust's samples included comet and stardust particles, revealing similarities to those found in primitive meteorites.
  • The presence of amino acid glycine in the samples suggested the potential for life's building blocks in the universe.
  • Deep Impact mission aimed to hit a comet with an impactor, facing challenges in navigation and trajectory adjustments.

01:28:36

Asteroid missions and impact mitigation strategies.

  • Deep Impact collided with a comet, followed by NASA's Goddard Dart mission spacecraft demonstrating how to slightly alter the course of a Moon-orbiting asteroid.
  • Various international efforts track asteroids and comets, including a Chinese lunar orbiter passing by an asteroid, the European Space Agency's Rosetta Mission deploying a Lander to a comet's surface, and NASA's New Horizons Mission exploring Pluto.
  • Japan's space agency achieved sample collection from an asteroid twice through the Hayabusa 1 Mission and NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission is bringing back asteroid samples in 2023.
  • JPL's Deep Space 1 Mission technology was utilized in the Dawn Mission, allowing it to orbit Vesta and Ceres, the largest objects in the asteroid belt.
  • NASA's Lucy Mission aims to visit asteroids sharing Jupiter's orbit, while the Psyche spacecraft by JPL will explore a metal asteroid.
  • The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft successfully flew using a solar sail in 2019, while recent NASA solar sail missions faced deployment issues.
  • Various mitigation strategies for near-earth objects include using solar sails, throwing rocks off the asteroid, gravity tractors, and nuclear explosions as a last resort.
  • In 2013, an asteroid named 2012 DA14 passed extremely close to Earth, coinciding with a massive Fireball event in Russia caused by a smaller meteor.
  • Government agencies conduct tabletop exercises annually to simulate responses to fictional near-earth object impacts, emphasizing the importance of early detection.
  • A hypothetical scenario in 2021 involved the discovery of an asteroid with a potential impact on Earth in six months, highlighting the challenges and decisions involved in mitigating such threats.
Channel avatarChannel avatarChannel avatarChannel avatarChannel avatar

Try it yourself — It’s free.