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Search · "asteroid" · every back issue · today's edition only →
Stories · 30
Vera Rubin Observatory announces dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138The outer solar system object was detected using precovery tools operated by the Asteroid Institute.asteroid news · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-11-08Asteroid 2026 QQ8 confirmed as Earth's temporary natural mini-moonThe 1-metre natural asteroid poses no impact risk and will depart Earth orbit around mid-December 2026.asteroid news · Dana Whitfield · 2026-11-08Eight asteroids listed on NASA Sentry impact risk register for 4 November 2026NASA/JPL CNEOS data published 4 November 2026 includes calculated impact probabilities for each near-Earth object.asteroid news · Dana Whitfield · 2026-11-04127 weeks to Apophis 2029: No impact risk remains confirmedOfficial orbit data confirms asteroid 99942 Apophis will safely pass Earth in 2029 with no impact risk for at least 100 years.99942 Apophis On the News! · Dana Whitfield · 2026-11-02Study finds asteroids, not comets, likely delivered intact organic molecules to early EarthNew simulation results published 1 November 2026 revise models for the origin of life's chemical building blocksasteroid news · Dana Whitfield · 2026-11-02Comets were an unlikely way to bring life's building blocks to Earth, simulations suggestA Cambridge-led study finds most comets hit too fast and too steeply for fragile molecules to survive, though it does not rule them out.asteroid news · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-11-02Apophis countdown, 128 weeks to go: a Chinese student team wants a front-row seatThis week's claim about the 2029 flyby, checked: Tsinghua's START mission is real, but Apophis is not "the most dangerous asteroid".99942 Apophis On the News! · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-31Vera C. Rubin Observatory releases ComCam image on second test anniversaryPublished 22 October 2026, the release marks two years since commissioning testing began for the observatory.space awareness · Marcus Adeyemi · 2026-10-29All 30
NASA releases progress update for commercial lunar rovers for Moon Base programUpdate published Oct 20 covers vehicle designs from Lunar Outpost and Astrolab, with flight hardware due at the end of 2027.launch updates · Yara Castellanos · 2026-10-29Astronomers discover unique double debris disk around white dwarf J1328−1450Observations from ESO's Very Large Telescope confirmed the unusual orbital structure on 27 October 2026.asteroid news · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-10-29NASA's second year-long Mars simulation ends on 31 OctoberFour volunteers have lived in a 3D-printed habitat in Houston since October 2025; NASA will use the data for Artemis and future deep-space missions.asteroid news · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-29Cowboy Space unveils Big Iron, the rocket meant to build a 20,000-satellite constellationThe company, led by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, wants each rocket's upper stage to become an AI data-centre satellite; first launch targeted for December 2028.launch updates · Yara Castellanos · 2026-10-29A 10-metre asteroid on NASA's risk list returns on 12 December2010 VQ passes 4.6 lunar distances away, its first close pass since it was last observed in 2022: a chance to sharpen an orbit that still carries a 1-in-629 long-term impact chance.asteroid news · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-29NASA details NEO Surveyor, the asteroid hunter for objects in the Sun's glare, and the Habitable Worlds ObservatoryNEO Surveyor's sunshade has been inspected in Colorado; HWO, Webb's planned successor for the 2040s, leans toward an off-axis design.asteroid news · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-29NASA's new Artemis plan: a 2027 test in Earth orbit, then a 2028 Moon landingArtemis III becomes a two-week docking rehearsal close to Earth; Artemis IV lands at the South Pole in 2028, with NASA waiting to choose between SpaceX and Blue Origin.launch updates · Yara Castellanos · 2026-10-29National Academies picks four Moon sites beyond the south pole for future astronautsBhabha Crater, Mons Hadley, Orientale Basin and Aristarchus top a NASA-requested report on where crews should go next.missions & science · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-24Japan's MMX launches toward Mars' moons to bring a piece of Phobos to EarthThe JAXA spacecraft left Tanegashima on an H3 rocket, aiming to land on Phobos, deploy the Idefix rover and return at least 10 grams of samples in 2031.launch updates · Yara Castellanos · 2026-10-24Russian military satellite Kosmos 2612 shadows a US-operated radar satellite in low orbitTrackers saw it close to within about 500 metres of ICEYE-X36, possibly a few metres, in what analysts call the first unapproved encounter between two active satellites.space awareness · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-24Apophis countdown, 129 weeks to go: yes, Ramses was 'activated', but only on the groundThis week's claims about the 2029 flyby, checked against ESA and NASA: the spacecraft's first power-on, and why reports disagree on the miss distance.99942 Apophis On the News! · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-24Livermore simulations test a nuclear option for disrupting a 160-metre asteroid3D models of a 1-megaton standoff blast broke up a Bennu-shaped asteroid in two of three scenarios, though the fragments' fate is still unknown.asteroid news · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-10-24INPE Prodes satellite system records 3,335 sq km Amazon deforestation over 12 monthsData covering August 2025 to July 2026 was published 16 October 2026.space awareness · Marcus Adeyemi · 2026-10-19World's timekeepers vote to end the leap second from May 2027Atomic time and Earth-rotation time may now drift up to an hour apart; the same meeting began work on a common time scale for the Moon.missions & science · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-16NASA readies the Artemis III core stage for a fuelling testThe stage will be stacked with its boosters at Pad 39B ahead of a 2027 crewed docking rehearsal in Earth orbit.asteroid news · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-16Musk says US government, not SpaceX, sets Starshield limits in UkraineUkrainian units lost front-line service without warning; SpaceX has since restored high-speed use, but a speed cap remains.space awareness · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-10-16Perseverance breaks Opportunity's record for distance driven on another worldThe rover's total passed 45.22 km on 11 October, with its self-driving system doing 90 percent of the work.missions & science · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-10-16Russia shows ground terminals for Rassvet, its rival to StarlinkOnly 13 Rassvet satellites are operating, the Daily Express reports, with full deployment promised for the end of 2027.space awareness · Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-16SpaceX asks to launch Starship up to 456 times a year from TexasThe FAA will prepare an environmental impact statement on a jump from today's limit of 25 launches a year.launch updates · Yara Castellanos · 2026-10-16FCC approves 15,000 low-orbit Starlink Mobile satellitesThe direct-to-phone constellation will fly at 326 to 335 km, adding to a fleet of close to 13,000 Starlink satellites launched so far.space awareness · Rhea Castellanos · 2026-10-16Vera Rubin data reveals the largest ultra-fast spinning asteroid yet foundAsteroid 491384, about 2.5 km wide, turns once every 4.18 minutes, far too fast for a loose pile of rubble.asteroid news · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-10-16Moscow State University begins work on a Russian mission to asteroid ApophisThe spacecraft may carry a gamma-ray spectrometer to read what the asteroid is made of.apophis watch · Ingrid Solberg · 2026-10-16Facts · 12
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory announced in October 2026 the discovery of dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138 using the Asteroid Institute's ADAM::Precovery service.Vera Rubin Observatory announces dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138On November 4 2026, the Asteroid Institute published its 2026 annual report.Vera Rubin Observatory announces dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138As of 2026, the Asteroid Institute's ADAM platform holds nearly 12 million astronomical observations.Vera Rubin Observatory announces dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138The Asteroid Institute launched the ADAM::Ephemeris asteroid position prediction service during 2026.Vera Rubin Observatory announces dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center confirmed on 29 October 2026 that asteroid 2026 QQ8 is a natural object temporarily captured in Earth orbit.Asteroid 2026 QQ8 confirmed as Earth's temporary natural mini-moonAsteroid 2026 QQ8 entered Earth's gravitational sphere of influence in April 2026, becoming a temporary mini-moon.Asteroid 2026 QQ8 confirmed as Earth's temporary natural mini-moonAll 12
Astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky first observed asteroid 2026 QQ8 on 19-20 August 2026.Asteroid 2026 QQ8 confirmed as Earth's temporary natural mini-moonAsteroid 2026 QQ8 has an estimated diameter of 1 meter, and posed no collision threat to Earth.Asteroid 2026 QQ8 confirmed as Earth's temporary natural mini-moonAsteroid 2026 QQ8 is expected to escape Earth orbit and return to solar orbit around mid-December 2026.Asteroid 2026 QQ8 confirmed as Earth's temporary natural mini-moonAsteroid Apophis will pass 31600 km from Earth on 13 April 2029.127 weeks to Apophis 2029: No impact risk remains confirmedStudy authors propose slower moving asteroids are a more plausible source for delivering intact organic molecules to early Earth.Study finds asteroids, not comets, likely delivered intact organic molecules to early EarthAsteroids, volcanoes or hydrothermal vents are suggested alternative sources for Earth's life chemicals.Comets were an unlikely way to bring life's building blocks to Earth, simulations suggestWriters · 5
Dana WhitfieldAsteroid & Near-Earth Object ReporterHenrik VassPolicy & International Affairs ColumnistIngrid SolbergScience EditorLuisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin, PhDPlanetary scientist and radar astronomerSofia MarchettiApophis Watch EditorSections · 1
asteroid newsPublishers · 2
science.nasa.gov5 cited factsnoticiasambientales.com1 cited factWord matches first, then pieces close in meaning.