Near-Earth object Current Affairs, GK & News

What is 2020 SO?

2020 SO, a Near Earth Object (NEO), has been identified to be the Centaur upper stage rocket booster that helped NASA carry its Surveyor Spacecraft towards the moon in 1966. The term ‘NEO’ is used to refer to an object with an orbit that brings it in close proximity with the Earth. When such NEOs ..

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2020

Category: Science & Technology Current Affairs

Topics: Asteroids • centaurs • Lunar Mission • NASA • Near-Earth object • surveyor 2

International Asteroid Day (IAD) observed on June 30

The International Asteroid Day (IAD) is observed every year on June 30 to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to inform the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the global level in case of a credible near-Earth object threat. In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) ..

Topics: Asteroid Day • Asteroids • Astronomy • Impact event • Near-Earth object • Planetary defense • Planetary science • Space Science • Tunguska event

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)

NASA is developing Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first-ever mission that will deflect a near-Earth asteroid. The DART will be built and managed by the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). It is a proposed space probe that would demonstrate the kinetic effects of crashing an impactor spacecraft into an asteroid moon. The mission is intended ..

Topics: 65803 Didymos • AIDA • Asteroid • Dart • Double Asteroid Redirection Test • Lander • NEAR Shoemaker • Near-Earth object • Planetary defense • Planetary science • Spacecraft • Uncrewed spacecraft