asteroid impact

The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft is preparing a major engine burn to set up its rendezvous with the asteroid Dimorphos. Four years ago, NASA deliberately crashed its DART probe into Dimorphos to test asteroid deflection. Hera, launching the next phase of that planetary defence effort, will begin mapping the impact crater and studying the aftermath when it arrives, with key operations starting next month.

A physics professor at Albion College in Michigan has published new research that deepens scientific understanding of how impacts from space objects affect Earth. The work adds to the broader study of meteorite and asteroid collisions and their consequences for the planet. Details of the findings and their practical significance have not been widely reported.

A prominent scientist is arguing that the widely accepted explanation for the dinosaur extinction, which blames an asteroid impact 66 million years ago, is incomplete or wrong. The claim challenges decades of consensus that the Chicxulub impact wiped out the dinosaurs, and is drawing significant public attention. Supporters of alternative explanations, such as massive volcanic eruptions, have long disputed the asteroid theory.