Comet Wild News Today

Scientists suspect that comets may have delivered the key ingredients for life on Earth, and new research outlines how exoplanets could have received these deliveries, too.

Scientists suspect that comets may have delivered the key ingredients for life on Earth, and new research outlines how exoplanets could have received these deliveries, too.

As NASA saw its first asteroid sample return to Earth, three museums took particular notice, knowing they had been chosen to display small examples of the space rock material.

As NASA saw its first asteroid sample return to Earth, three museums took particular notice, knowing they had been chosen to display small examples of the material.

A seven-year-long NASA mission will come to an end on Sunday and -- if all goes as planned -- the first asteroid sample collected in space will land on Earth. Back in September 2016, the federal space agency launched the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on a daring mission to snare a batch of rocks from the asteroid Bennu, located about 200 million miles away. The spacecraft is now heading back into Earth's orbit now and will jettison its cargo over the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah.

Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- A seven-year-long NASA mission has come to an end with the first asteroid sample collected in space. This capsule, the size of a microwave oven, landed safely on Sunday morning to a crowd of cheering spectators -- a bit earlier than planned but exactly in the manner it was supposed to land. Before it landed, the capsules cover was ejected at 102,000 feet above Earths atmosphere, and rogue parachutes were deployed to stabilize it. Operations for t...

Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- A seven-year-long NASA mission has come to an end with the first asteroid sample collected in space. This capsule, the size of a microwave oven, landed safely on Sunday morning to a crowd of cheering sp...

OSIRIS-REx’s mission to scoop up part of an asteroid launched seven years ago and traveled 200 million miles.

Interplanetary dust particle (IDP), also called micrometeoroid, micrometeorite, or cosmic dust particle, a small grain, generally less than a few hundred micrometres in size and composed of silicate minerals and glassy nodules but sometimes including sulfides, metals, other minerals, and carbonaceous material, in orbit around the Sun. The existence of interplanetary dust particles was first deduced from observations of zodiacal light, a glowing band visible in the night sky that comprises sunli...

Comets are icy leftovers from the formation of the solar system. Explore these dirty snowballs in more detail with our ultimate comet guide.