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Planetary Science and Resources Discoveries (PSRD) is an educational site sharing the latest research on the nature and origin of the Moon, meteorites, asteroids, planets, and other materials in our Solar System, and on identifying potential resources on those bodies that could be tapped for the benefit of people on Earth. Original support came from the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate and Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium. This site is a vital link for what's new in planetary and space sciences, space resources exploration, and learning how science works.

Archive of Asteroid Articles

Articles listed by publication date.

DATE POSTED	HEADLINE ARTICLES	PDF VERSIONS
DEC 2019	Bennu–Active Asteroid by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Particle ejection events from the surface of asteroid Bennu are studied with OSIRIS-REx imaging data and modeling to try to find plausible explanations.
NOV 2019	Building the Case for a New CY Group of Carbonaceous Chondrites by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Researchers support naming a new CY group of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites that may be similar to near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, the target of sample return in December 2020.
JUNE 2019	Understanding Volatile Element Loss in Meteorites and their Parent Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Laboratory heating experiments track the release of labile elements in meteorite samples to better understand asteroid evolution, with relevance to future handling of samples returned from asteroid Bennu.
24 MAY 2019	Active Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel Researchers document the stunning effects of disintegrating asteroids to learn more about their dusty debris tails and the processes causing them to happen.
SEPT 2018	An Incompletely Differentiated Asteroid by G. Jeffrey Taylor CosmoSparks Report - The Acapulcoite-Lodranite group of meteorites provides information about different degrees of partial melting in asteroids.
10 AUG 2018	The Oldest Volcanic Meteorite: A Silica-Rich Lava on a Geologically Complex Planetesimal by G. Jeffrey Taylor A volcanic meteorite is the oldest igneous meteorite identified so far, erupting onto its parent body only about 3 million years after the Solar System began to form.
JUNE 2018	What Cycling Temperatures Have To Do With Making Regolith on Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Meteorite experiments and numerical models show how cracks grow along grain boundaries during thermal cycling, leading to disaggregated rocks and regolith on asteroids.
MAY 2018	A Spectral Study of Least-processed Carbonaceous Chondrites by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - 1.4- and 21-µm features are distinctive infrared identifiers of least-processed meteorites from all chemical groups of carbonaceous chondrites; Asteroid (93) Minerva has a similar near-infrared spectrum.
APRIL 2018	Icarus Journal—Special Issue on Asteroids and Space Debris by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Articles in the April 2018 issue cover research on asteroids.
FEB 2018	Impact Cratering on Porous Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Experiments and modeling show how large-scale impacts into highly porous targets form craters mostly by compaction.
MARCH 2017	Ceres Has Organics by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Scientists make the first unambiguous detection of organic compounds on a main asteroid belt body from Dawn orbital data.
JAN 2017	When Achondrites Surpassed Ordinary Chondrites in the Meteorite Flux to Earth by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Before the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body, achondrites rained down on the Middle Ordovician Earth.
NOV 2016	Revealing the Secrets of Asteroid Melting by Precise Oxygen Isotopic Analyses by G. Jeffrey Taylor CosmoSparks Report - High precision oxygen isotopic studies show the relationships among different meteorite groups.
NOV 2016	Modeling the Effects of a Giant Planet Instability in the Early Solar System by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Numerical model shows how primordial planetesimals that once existed beyond the orbit of Neptune may be found in the inner asteroid belt. Could the Tagish Lake meteorite be such a sample?
OCT 2016	Asteroids Up Close by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Remote sensing, returned samples from asteroid missions, and meteorites all help us better understand asteroids.
OCT 2016	A Classic Returns by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - IMPACT! eBook novel tells a story centering around the threat of a big Earth-crossing asteroid that is heading right at us.
JAN 2016	Comprehending Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Understanding asteroids through the effective blend of laboratory analyses of meteorites and samples and data obtained with asteroid missions.
DEC 2015	Impacting the Properties of Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Researchers assess damaged and deformed chondrules in a meteorite to understand the impact-induced changes on chondrite parent bodies.
JULY 2015	The Shocking Price of Escape Velocity by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Correlating the percentage of maskelynite-bearing samples in a basaltic-meteorite group with parent-body escape velocity.
29 JUNE 2015	Chondritic Asteroids–When Did Aqueous Alteration Happen? by Patricia M. Doyle New dates determined for aqueous alteration on chondritic parent bodies, based on a new mineral standard, have big implications on the timing and location of accretion.
FEB 2015	Circumstances of Cubanite in a Comet and Asteroid by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Laboratory synthesis of copper-iron sulfide helps establish conditions of its formation.
28 JAN 2015	Water in Asteroid 4 Vesta by G. Jeffrey Taylor The big, melted asteroid 4 Vesta provides clues to the source of water to Earth and Mars.
JAN 2015	Mineralogical-Spectral Details of Meteorites Shed Light on Dark Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - CM and CI chondrites are used to interpret aqueous alteration on asteroids.
NOV 2014	Asteroids—Watching the Sky—Searching for Meteorites by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - NASA's Near-Earth Object observation program released a new global map of meteor strikes plus ANSMET begins a new season of searching for meteorites in Antarctica.
MARCH 2014	Elements Magazine—Special Issue on Asteroids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Six articles and the CosmoElements page in the February 2014 issue cover asteroid targets and sampling.
NOV 2013	World Notice: 10,000 Near-Earth Objects and Details About One That Landed in Russia by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - International space agencies, observatories, and the United Nations plan to coordinate NEO efforts.
30 APRIL 2013	Meteoritic Minerals Tell a Story of Multistage Cooling, Break-up, and Reassembly of an Asteroid by G. Jeffrey Taylor Compositional variations in minerals in H-chondrites indicate at least two vastly different cooling rates at different temperatures, suggesting fragmentation, cooling of the fragments, and reassembly into a second-generation rubble pile.
FEB 2013	The Surprise Meteorite Fall in Russia, February, 2013 by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - The meteoroid, meteor, and ordinary chondrite in Chelyabinsk in the news.
SEPT 2012	Volatiles on Vesta by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Implications for the hydrogen detected on Vesta with data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft.
APRIL 2012	Earth's Temporary Minimoons by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Asteroids temporarily orbiting Earth follow a wild route before they exit. Could they someday be mined?
31 AUG 2011	Samples from Asteroid Itokawa by G. Jeffrey Taylor and Linda M. V. Martel Samples returned from asteroid Itokawa by the Hayabusa mission provide ground truth for astronomical observations and reveal that the little asteroid is eroding at a rate of tens of centimeters per million years.
JULY 2011	Vesta and the Vestoids by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Insights to Vesta's crust, before the Dawn mission's close look at the asteroid.
7 APRIL 2011	Wet, Carbonaceous Asteroids: Altering Minerals, Changing Amino Acids by G. Jeffrey Taylor Aqueous alteration in asteroids containing organic compounds leads to formation of hydrous minerals and changes in the mix of amino acids.
FEB 2011	Asteroid Itokawa Samples by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Hayabusa Mission results show definitive evidence for LL chondrite compositions of minerals in Itokawa Samples.
DEC 2010	Asteroid Tracked -- Meteorites Found! by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - The unfolding story of meteorite Almahata Sitta.
JULY 2010	Messing with an Onion by G. Jeffrey Taylor CosmoSparks Report - Cooling of the H-chondrite parent body.
30 APRIL 2010	Asteroid, Meteor, Meteorite by Linda M. V. Martel Detected in space less than a day before hitting Earth, the Almahata Sitta meteorite from asteroid 2008 TC₃ gives clues to the complex evolution of small asteroids.
10 AUG 09	Space Weathering Agent: Solar Wind by Linda M. V. Martel Bombardment of helium ions on olivine in the laboratory simulates space weathering of asteroids and other airless bodies.
25 JUNE 09	The Complicated Geologic History of Asteroid 4 Vesta by G. Jeffrey Taylor Meteorites from asteroid 4 Vesta show that it contains patches of granite-like rock.
19 FEB 09	More Evidence for Multiple Meteorite Magmas by G. Jeffrey Taylor Cosmochemists show that a pair of meteorites formed in an asteroid that erupted a newly-recognized type of asteroidal magma.
8 JULY 08	Heating, Cooling, and Cratering: One Asteroid's Complicated Story by G. Jeffrey Taylor Cooling rate data indicate that the H-chondrite parent asteroid was deeply cratered as it cooled slowly.
27 NOV 07	Getting to Know Vesta by Linda M. V. Martel Scientists are primed with geochemical data from HED meteorites for Dawn's encounter with asteroid 4 Vesta.
17 SEPT 07	Melted Crumbs from Asteroid Vesta by Linda M. V. Martel Researchers studying some of the rarest of the smallest meteorites call them melted crumbs from asteroid Vesta.
18 APRIL 07	When Worlds Really Did Collide by Edward Scott, Jijin Yang, and Joseph Goldstein Cosmochemical studies and dynamical models of protoplanetary collisions suggest a new origin for iron meteorites.
27 NOV 06	Hit-and-Run as Planets Formed by G. Jeffrey Taylor Collisions between large protoplanets as the planets formed may have ripped some of them to shreds, producing molten asteroid-sized bodies, driving off water and other volatiles, and scrambling partially molten protoplanets.
21 JULY 06	Iron Meteorites as the Not-So-Distant Cousins of Earth by William F. Bottke and Linda M. V. Martel Numerical simulations suggest that some iron meteorites are fragments of the long lost precursor material that formed the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
2 APRIL 04	Asteroid Heating: A Shocking View by G. Jeffrey Taylor Mineral intergrowths in chondritic meteorites may indicate that some asteroids were heated by impact.
9 MAR 04	Tiny Traces of a Big Asteroid Breakup by Linda M. V. Martel Fossil meteorites and chromite grains record a hundred-fold increase in the number of meteorites that fell 480 million years ago compared to the meteorite influx today.
28 APRIL 03	Asteroidal Lava Flows by G. Jeffrey Taylor Meteorite studies indicate that we have pieces of lava flows from at least five asteroids.
23 JAN 03	QUE 93148: A Part of the Mantle of Asteroid 4 Vesta? by Christine Floss A tiny meteorite tells a story of melting in the deep mantle of a big asteroid.
28 JUNE 02	Using Chondrites to Understand the Inside of Asteroid 433 Eros by Linda M. V. Martel Data from ordinary chondrite meteorites and from the NEAR mission suggest that asteroid 433 Eros is heavily fractured.
26 FEB 02	The Composition of Asteroid 433 Eros by G. Jeffrey Taylor X-rays and reflected light suggest that asteroid 433 Eros is similar in composition to the most common type of meteorite--maybe.
3 DEC 01	Oxygen Isotopes Give Clues to the Formation of Planets, Moons, and Asteroids by Edward R. D. Scott As they formed from gas and dust near the Sun, grains in some meteorites acquired oxygen that originated in numerous other stars that shone long before our solar system was born.
21 NOV 00	Mining the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids by G. Jeffrey Taylor Applied cosmochemistry plays a key role in plans to use the resources of the Moon, Mars, and asteroids.
17 DEC 99	Difficult Experiments on Weird Rocks by G. Jeffrey Taylor Melting experiments on oxygen-depleted meteorites give clues about magma compositions and core formation in asteroids.
24 AUG 99	Honeycombed Asteroids by G. Jeffrey Taylor Asteroids have lower densities than expected, probably because they have been disrupted and then reassembled into porous rubble piles.
8 FEB 99	From a Cloud of Gas and Dust to an Asteroid with Percolating Hot Water by G. Jeffrey Taylor Isotopes of manganese and chromium indicate that chemical reactions involving hot water altered minerals on water-bearing asteroids during the same time interval that other asteroids were melted, between 7 and 16 million years after the first solids formed in the Solar System.
12 NOV 98	Dry Droplets of Fiery Rain by G. Jeffrey Taylor Experiments test an idea for the origin of droplets of rocky material melted before the planets formed.

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