NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “asteroids

  2. Asteroid Impact Could Destroy Ozone Layer


    http://colab.arc.nasa.gov/node/120
    New research funded by a NASA Exobiology grant is helping scientists understand what would happen to life on Earth if an asteroid crashed into the deep ocean. The model shows that a medium-sized asteroid could affect atmospheric chemistry on our planet, resulting in global ozone depletion. Ozone in Earth’s atmosphere helps protect living organisms from ultraviolet radiation. If ozone levels were depleted for a long period of time, life could face a difficult future.

    Source: [Planetary Science Institute ]

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  3. Getting WISE About Nemesis


    Artist concept of the NASA WISE mission. Image: NASA/JPLArtist concept of the NASA WISE mission. Image: NASA/JPL
    Is our Sun part of a binary star system? An unseen companion star, nicknamed “Nemesis,” may be sending comets towards Earth. Throughout history, such impacts could have had a profound effect on the evolution of the biosphere by causing regular mass extinctions. If Nemesis exists, NASA’s new WISE telescope should be able to spot it.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  4. Marco Polo and Meteorites


    Asteroids and comets have been a major focus of recent NASA missions. From Deep Impact to Stardust, and the current Dawn mission, astrobiologists have been examining these fascinating celestial bodies in order to understand the role they may have played in the origin of life on our planet. These rocks in space are also ancient records from a time when our solar system was being born. The wealth of scientific information that can be gleaned from asteroids has also sparked interest from space agencies outside of the United States....

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    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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