Asteroids

Photorealistic illustration of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, silver with a cone front and two wings, hovering above a grey, rocky surface with a dark blue background scattered with faint stars.

OSIRIS-REx mission carrying MIT student experiment wins Space Foundation award

John L. "Jack" Swigert, Jr. Award for Space Exploration honors project team’s success harvesting a sample from asteroid Bennu.

February 1, 2022

Illustration of the Lucy spacecraft near an asteroid

Q&A: Lucy mission launches to study ancient Trojan asteroids

Co-Investigator Scientist Professor Richard Binzel discusses NASA’s latest interplanetary mission, which is co-led by Cathy Olkin ’88, PhD ’96.

October 18, 2021

Minor planet discovered by Lincoln Laboratory named for noted Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre

International Astronomical Union grants request to name minor planet discovered by the LINEAR program in honor of the Italian senator for life for her efforts to combat intolerance.

March 1, 2021

To ensure the best coverage of our solar system, MIT Assistant Professor Richard Linares envisions a constellation of "statites" that communicate and work together, only activating the statite in the optimum position to fly by or rendezvous with an interstellar object successfully. Other statites in the constellation can continue to wait for the next ISO to appear.

To catch an interstellar visitor, use a solar-powered space slingshot

MIT research proposal for rendezvous missions with interstellar objects selected for NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program.

May 6, 2020

MIT researchers have devised a framework for deciding which type of mission would be most successful in deflecting an incoming asteroid, taking into account an asteroid’s mass and momentum, its proximity to a gravitational keyhole, and the amount of warning time that scientists have of an impending collision.

How to deflect an asteroid

MIT engineers devise a decision map to identify the best mission type to deflect an incoming asteroid.

February 18, 2020

This mosaic image of asteroid Bennu is composed of 12 PolyCam images collected on Dec. 2 by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 15 miles (24 km). The image was obtained at a 50 degree phase angle between the spacecraft, asteroid, and the sun.

MIT’s REXIS and Bennu’s watery surface

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample-return spacecraft, carrying MIT instrument, arrived at asteroid in December; now begins the science to select a sampling location.

January 29, 2019

The first color image of Ultima Thule, taken at a distance of 85,000 miles (137,000 kilometers) at 4:08 Universal Time on Jan. 1, 2019, highlights its reddish surface. The left image was taken by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager. At right, color has been overlaid onto the LORRI image.

3Q: On the significance of Ultima Thule

New Horizons Mission Team members Alissa Earle and Richard Binzel discuss the revelations the icy world provides about the formation of our solar system.

January 23, 2019

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics head Jaime Peraire calls Rebecca Masterson “an outstanding researcher with an impressive record of accomplishment in space systems engineering and design.”

Rebecca Masterson appointed AeroAstro principal research scientist

Mechanical engineer and instrument scientist on NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is the first female principal research scientist in the department's history.

July 19, 2018

As principal investigator of the Psyche mission, Lindy Elkins-Tanton '87, SM ’87, PhD ’02 is just the second woman to lead a NASA spacecraft mission to a planetary body. The first was her former MIT colleague, Vice President for Research Maria Zuber.

Exploring an unusual metal asteroid

Alumna and former MIT professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton is working with MIT faculty in her role as principal investigator for NASA's upcoming Psyche mission.

July 25, 2017