NASA’s fancy-pants asteroid missions can save Earth AND reveal its history

Asteroids are remnants of the early Solar System, with the potential to reveal secrets of our planet’s origins. But they could also bring an end to life on Earth. Now two missions, Lucy and DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) will provide further insights into both of these features – with DART even attempting to redirect the orbit of a moon around an asteroid. Space rocks are generally considered to be asteroids if they are larger than approximately 1km in size and made of “non-volatile” materials – chemicals that can be easily vaporized. Carbon monoxide, for example, is volatile as it…

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