Earth to capture a 'second moon' this weekend, NASA says
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:43Earth will capture a miniature, "second moon" this week, according to NASA scientists.
The new moon is actually a tiny asteroid dubbed 2024 PT5. It will start orbiting the planet in a horseshoe path and stick around for a little less than two months before escaping Earth's gravitational pull and going back to its regular orbit around the sun.
"According to the latest data available from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Horizons System, the temporary capture will start at 15:54 EDT (on Sunday) and will end at 11:43 EDT on November 25," mini-moon event expert and Universidad Complutense de Madrid professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos told Space.com.
2024 PT5 is part of "the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles," Marcos said.
He added that the asteroid, which poses no threat to the planet, will travel about 2,200 miles per hour while maintaining a distance of around 2.8 million miles from Earth.
View from Hera’s Asteroid Deck
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:41MaiaSpace to use former Soyuz launch pad in French Guiana
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:25The journey of Juice – episode 1
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:00ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), is on an epic eight-year journey to Jupiter. This first episode of ‘The journey of Juice’ tells the story of Juice’s first months in space, from its launch on 14 April 2023 to its lunar-Earth gravity assist (LEGA for short) in August 2024. This flyby was not only the first double gravity assist manoeuvre of its kind, it was also a perfect opportunity to test out the spacecraft’s cameras and science instruments.
In this episode, Juice’s Mission Manager Nicolas Altobelli explains how the spacecraft will become the first ever human-made
NASA funds Starfish Space debris inspection mission
Friday, 27 September 2024 09:12Earth from Space: Northern Territory, Australia
Friday, 27 September 2024 07:00D-Orbit raises 150 million euros in two-part Series C round
Friday, 27 September 2024 07:00FCC releases more radio waves for NGSO broadband
Thursday, 26 September 2024 20:13Mars' missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight
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How special is the Milky Way Galaxy?
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BlackSky prices $40M Public Offering of Common Stock
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SkAI Initiative aims to expand astrophysics research with AI
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Crew completes simulated Mars Mission at JSC
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ESA-DLR Lunar facility prepares for simulated exploration
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