Asteroid Fast Facts at the NASA Website

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Search Log
Results
Works Cited

Introduction

Because I have always been interested in learning about planets in the Solar System, I decided to expand my knowledge to other objects that can be found in space. Asteroids were described in our class notes (page 10.4); however, I wanted to learn more about their nature, discovery, and other characteristics.

Search Log

I typed “Asteroids” into the search engine “Google.”

The first link was to the Asteroids Online Game, although the second link was to the Wikipedia article, which provided a lot of information on the topic. The article included information about the discovery of asteroids, their formation, and distribution in the Solar System, as well as major characteristics and classifications. Although the article was useful, I wanted to search for more authoritative websites on the topic.

One of the links in the search was the link to NASA’s website that provided a list of fast facts about Asteroids. The article on NASA’s website was smaller compared to Wikipedia; however, it gave enough information about the difference between asteroids, comets, meteors, and meteorites. I wanted to have more information at my disposal, so I typed “Asteroids NASA” into the search engine. I found NASA’s Frequently Asked Questions sheet about the Near Earth Object Program that explored asteroids. The fact sheet included the definition of asteroids, explained why NASA is studying them, and provided a list of spacecrafts sent to explore asteroids and comets. I could trust NASA’s website because it was created by a governmental agency, so I decided to limit the search to the already found articles about asteroids.

Results

I found that an asteroid is a relatively small in size object, inactive in its nature, and with a rocky surface. The Fast Facts article by NASA mentioned that every year the atmosphere of the Earth is attacked by automobile-sized asteroids, which create a large fireball that burns out before reaching the planet’s surface (par. 7). Furthermore, approximately every two thousand years, an asteroid may hit the surface of the Earth and cause significant damage. One of the most disturbing facts about asteroids is that an asteroid that is larger than two kilometers wide can potentially impact the entire planet Earth. Additionally, the asteroid that poses the potential threat to our planet (the asteroid called Toutatis) is 5.4 kilometers in diameter (NASA par. 10).

After examining the fact sheet provided by NASA, I found that spacecrafts were regularly sent on missions to explore asteroids. Also, the same spacecrafts were sent to study many asteroids. For example, the Near spacecraft (launched in 1996) was sent to explore the Asteroid Mathilde Flyby (1997), Asteroids Eros Flyby (1998), and Asteroid Eros Rendevous (2000) (Chodas 1). Asteroids are parts left from the formation of many planets, including the planet Earth. NASA states that it is important to study asteroids because some of them can potentially cause harm to other planets as well as our planet. Additionally, asteroids are sources of raw materials, which are very expensive. For instance, the cost of the minerals found on asteroids orbiting Mars and Jupiter was estimated to approximately a hundred billion dollars for every person living on the planet Earth (Chodas 1). One of the fun facts about asteroids is that some of them can also have “personal” moons that orbit them, similar how the Moon orbits the Earth.

Works Cited

Chodas, Paul. Frequently Asked Questions. 2014. Web.

NASA.Asteroid Fast Facts. 2014. Web.

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Asteroid Fast Facts at the NASA Website

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