Sun-Earth Days 2014

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Sun-Earth Days 2014

Tuesday - Asteroids, Small Worlds Week

Asteroids

Join the discussion with NASA planetary scientists during Small Worlds Week, July 6-10!

Asteroids, also called "minor planets" or "planetoids" are small, rocky, airless worlds left over from the formation of planets in our solar system over 4 billion years ago. Orbiting largely in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, there are an estimated 750,000 asteroids orbiting the sun with diameters over 1 km in size and millions more of smaller sizes. When they venture near Earth they are called Near Earth Objects (or NEO's). NASA, ESA, and JAXA are studying these tiny failed planets with space missions such as Dawn, WISE, NEAR, Hayabusa, and the OSIRIS-Rex sample return mission (launch in 2016) and are devising methods to defend against asteroids that might venture too close to the Earth.

Selected References:

Activities

Multimedia

Additional Resources

Careers

Dr. Georgiana (George) Kramer

Dr. Georgiana (George) Kramer

Dr. Georgiana Kramer is a planetary geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX. She determines the composition and structure of the interior of the moon by observing its surface. She also studies space weathering and the formation of water on airless bodies in a vacuum. And she is a guest at the Comicpalooza 2014 and 2015 in Houston.

George's brief biography:

My research interests include the chemistry and mineralogy of the Moon, asteroids, and other planets, which I study by using both samples (meteorites and returned by people and spacecraft) and remote sensing data analysis. I study changes in a planet's surface as a result of its interaction with the solar wind meteorite bombardment. Understanding the effects from these processes improves the ability to map the composition of the fresh rock types that make up the crust. The types and distribution of rocks that comprise the crust can be used to deduce mantle processes and planetary evolution.