#Space missions
Missions that study and bring back samples of asteroids, comets and the Moon.
Lessons (2)
- Meteorites from the Moon and MarsA few hundred meteorites are pieces of the Moon or Mars. How do we know, and what can they tell us?
- Sample return: ground truth for meteoriticsSamples collected directly from known bodies test the links that meteoriticists have proposed for decades, and reveal what meteorites alone
Courses (9)
- Shock, craters and deflecting an asteroidHypervelocity impacts generate shock pressures that transform minerals. This final lesson connects shock metamorphism, crater evidence and t
- Spectroscopy: matching meteorites to asteroidsSunlight reflected from an asteroid carries the absorption fingerprints of its minerals.
- Rocks from the Moon and MarsSeveral hundred meteorites are pieces of the Moon or Mars, thrown off by impacts. This lesson explains how they were identified and what the
- Water and the ingredients of lifeSome meteorites carry water locked in minerals and a rich chemistry of carbon compounds, including amino acids and nucleobases.
- Momentum: nudging an asteroidIn 2022 a spacecraft deliberately hit an asteroid moon to change its orbit. Momentum explains how a tiny spacecraft could move a body millio
- The molecules of life from spaceSome meteorites contain amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, made without any living thing.
- People on the MoonA long time ago, in 1969, astronauts went to the Moon and brought back Moon rocks.
- Rocks from the Moon and MarsA few meteorites have come from the Moon and from Mars. In this lesson you will find out how a rock can escape a world and how scientists kn
- Missions to asteroidsSpacecraft have now visited asteroids, brought back samples and even pushed one off course.
Books (1)
- Messengers from Mars, the Moon and VestaAbout one meteorite in a hundred is a piece of the Moon or Mars, and one fall in sixteen comes from the asteroid Vesta. This book shows how
Famous meteorites (2)
- Allan Hills 81005A golf-ball-sized rock found in Antarctica in 1982 – the first meteorite recognised as coming from the Moon.
- AllendeThe meteorite that fell on a Mexican village months before Apollo 11 – and turned out to hold the oldest solids in the Solar System.
Meteorite types (2)
- Carbonaceous chondritesRare, often dark chondrites rich in carbon, water-bearing minerals and organic compounds, including the building blocks of life.
- Lunar meteoritesRocks from the Moon, found mainly in deserts and Antarctica. Lunar meteorites are pieces of the Moon blasted off by impacts.
Space missions (25)
- Apollo 11The first Moon rocks, collected by the first people to walk on another world. On 20 July 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the luna
- Apollo 12A pinpoint landing beside an old robot, and the discovery of KREEP. Apollo 12 was struck by lightning twice in the first minute after launch
- Apollo 14Rocks thrown out by the giant impact that made the Imbrium basin. Apollo 14 landed on 5 February 1971 in the Fra Mauro hills, the target tha
- Apollo 15The first lunar rover, a winding valley of lava, and the Genesis Rock. Apollo 15 was the first of the longer, science-led missions.
- Apollo 16The only Apollo landing in the central highlands, and a surprise about how they formed.
- Apollo 17The last crewed landing, the only geologist on the Moon, and orange soil. Apollo 17 was the last time people walked on the Moon.
- Chang'e 5China's first Moon samples, and the youngest lava ever brought back from the Moon. Chang'e 5 was the first lunar sample return since
- Chang'e 6The first samples ever brought back from the far side of the Moon. The far side of the Moon always faces away from Earth, so a lander there
- DARTThe first test of moving an asteroid: a spacecraft deliberately crashed into a small moon.
- Deep ImpactThe mission that fired a copper projectile into a comet to see what lay beneath its crust.
- Deep Space 1The spacecraft that proved ion engines in deep space, then flew past a comet. Deep Space 1 was built to test new technology so that later mi
- GenesisA sample of the Sun itself, which survived a crash landing and rewrote the Solar System's oxygen story.
- HayabusaThe first asteroid sample ever returned, which proved where ordinary chondrites come from.
- Hayabusa2Pieces of a carbon-rich asteroid that turned out to be the purest primitive rock ever studied. Hayabusa2 reached the asteroid Ryugu in June
- HeraEurope's detective mission to study the asteroid moon that DART struck. DART showed that an asteroid can be nudged, but telescopes on Ea
- Luna 16The first robot to scoop up part of another world and fly it home. Luna 16 proved that a machine could do what had so far needed astronauts.
- Luna 20A robot's sample of the bright, ancient highlands of the Moon. Luna 20 was the second successful Soviet sample return, and the first to
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSSA Moon mapper that watches new craters form, and a rocket stage crashed to find polar ice.
- MMX (Martian Moons eXploration)Japan's mission to bring back the first sample from a moon of Mars. Mars has two small, dark moons, Phobos, about 22 kilometres across,
- OSIRIS-APEXThe OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, sent on to meet Apophis just after its close pass of Earth in 2029.
- OSIRIS-RExThe largest asteroid sample ever returned, full of salts, water-formed minerals and life's building blocks.
- Perseverance and Mars Sample ReturnA rover filling sealed tubes with Martian rock for a trip home that has yet to be arranged.
- StardustThe first sample from a comet, and the surprise that it contained rock formed close to the Sun.
- Tianwen-2China's mission to sample a tiny companion of Earth that may be a piece of the Moon.
- Mission timeline213 milestones in the exploration of asteroids, comets, the Moon and Mars, from Luna and Apollo to Hayabusa2, OSIRIS-REx and Chang'e 6.
Meteorite minerals (7)
- AnorthiteCalcium-rich plagioclase, the mineral of the Moon's first crust and of the oldest solids in chondrites.
- ArmalcoliteAn iron–magnesium–titanium oxide named after the Apollo 11 astronauts. Armalcolite is an oxide very rich in titanium.
- IlmeniteAn iron–titanium oxide abundant in lunar mare basalts and common in eucrites and Martian meteorites.
- OlivineThe green magnesium–iron silicate that is the most common mineral in stony meteorites and the gem crystals of pallasites.
- OsborniteTitanium nitride, golden cubes found in enstatite meteorites and in comet dust. Osbornite is a compound of titanium and nitrogen, extremely
- PyroxferroiteAn iron-rich silicate that forms in the last melt of lunar and Martian basalts. Pyroxferroite is a chain silicate similar in chemistry to ir
- TranquillityiteA rare iron–zirconium–titanium silicate first found in Apollo 11 Moon rocks. Tranquillityite is a silicate rich in iron, titanium and zircon
Glossary (23)
Questions and answers (11)
- Can asteroids have moons?Yes. Many asteroids have moons. The first was Dactyl, found orbiting Ida in 1993, and DART's target Dimorphos is the moon of Didymos.
- Do meteorites contain stardust older than the Sun?Yes. Primitive meteorites contain tiny presolar grains that formed around other stars before the Sun existed.
- How can I show pupils that most meteorites come from asteroids?Use orbits calculated from filmed fireballs, which trace back to the asteroid belt, plus spacecraft samples from asteroids Itokawa, Ryugu an
- How can I teach momentum using the DART mission?DART's impact on Dimorphos is a real example of momentum transfer: students can estimate the change in speed and see why ejected debris
- How can I teach that we are made of stardust?Explain that most elements in our bodies were made in stars, and show that meteorites contain actual grains of stardust from stars older tha
- How can I use the Apollo Moon samples in lessons?Apollo samples show how direct evidence transformed understanding of the Moon, from its age and origin to its craters, and they link to engi
- How do we know a meteorite came from the Moon?Lunar meteorites match the rocks and soils brought back by the Apollo and Luna missions in their minerals, chemistry and oxygen isotopes.
- How do we know which asteroid a meteorite came from?Usually we only know the likely type or region of asteroid, by matching how meteorites and asteroids reflect light, reconstructing fireball
- What are the samples from Ryugu and Bennu?They are pristine samples of two carbon-rich asteroids brought to Earth by spacecraft: about 5.4 grams from Ryugu by Japan's Hayabusa2 i
- What is NASA doing about dangerous asteroids?NASA funds sky surveys that find and track near-Earth objects, calculates their future orbits, coordinates planetary defence through a dedic
- What was the DART mission?DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) was a NASA spacecraft that deliberately crashed into the small asteroid Dimorphos on 26 September 20
Impact craters (1)
- SudburySudbury in Ontario is one of the largest and oldest impact structures on Earth, and almost certainly the most valuable.
Impact events (1)
- The Late Heavy BombardmentWas there a sudden storm of giant impacts 3.9 billion years ago, or a slow fading of them? In the 1970s, scientists dating rocks melted by i
Asteroids (9)
- 1998 KY261998 KY26 is a tiny asteroid that will become the smallest ever visited by a spacecraft.
- AnnefrankAnnefrank is a small asteroid in the inner main belt, about 6 kilometres long, that played a supporting role in one of the great space missi
- ApolloApollo was the first asteroid found whose orbit crosses Earth's. Karl Reinmuth discovered it at Heidelberg on 24 April 1932, when it pas
- BennuBennu is a small, dark asteroid about 490 metres across that has been studied more closely than almost any other.
- Didymos and DimorphosDidymos is a near-Earth asteroid about 780 metres across with a small moon, Dimorphos, about 150 metres wide, circling it at a distance of a
- IcarusIcarus is named after the young man in Greek legend who flew too close to the Sun, and the name fits.
- ItokawaItokawa was the first asteroid from which samples were brought back to Earth. Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft arrived in September 2005, stu
- KamoʻoalewaKamoʻoalewa is a small asteroid that seems to keep Earth company. It orbits the Sun, not the Earth, but its orbit is so similar to ours that
- RyuguRyugu is a dark, carbon-rich asteroid about 900 metres across, shaped like a spinning top with a ridge around its equator.
Comets (2)
- Comet Tempel 1The comet that Deep Impact struck with a 370-kilogram copper-tipped probe in 2005, to see what lay beneath the surface.
- Comet Wild 2The comet whose dust Stardust brought back to Earth, and which turned out to contain grains made close to the young Sun.
Micrometeorites (1)
- Cosmic dust collected by space missionsTo be sure exactly where a grain of dust came from, you have to fetch it yourself.
People (5)
- Dante LaurettaThe University of Arizona scientist who led OSIRIS-REx, the mission that brought about 120 grams of the asteroid Bennu back to Earth in 2023
- Donald BrownleeThe astronomer who first collected dust from comets and asteroids in the stratosphere, and who led NASA's Stardust mission to a comet. D
- Elbert KingThe first curator of the Apollo Moon rocks, who helped design how they were received and protected on Earth. Elbert Aubrey King Jr.
- Harrison SchmittThe only professional geologist to walk on the Moon, who collected rock samples on Apollo 17 in December 1972.
- Junichiro KawaguchiThe Japanese engineer who led the Hayabusa mission, which nursed a crippled spacecraft home with the first grains from an asteroid.
Museums and collections (2)
- JAXA Extraterrestrial Sample Curation CenterThe clean laboratories that received the first grains ever returned from asteroids, from Itokawa and Ryugu.
- NASA Johnson Space Center astromaterials collectionsThe laboratories that look after the Apollo Moon rocks, US Antarctic meteorites and samples from comets and asteroids.