NASA is tracking a truck-sized asteroid which is set to hurtle by Earth today at many times the velocity of a speeding bullet. The space rock—dubbed "2025 BV5"—is estimated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to be some 26 feet across.

This mineral-rich asteroid might have carried the seeds of life. Planetary scientists have discovered organic matter essential to life in dust and rock retrieved from an asteroid known as Bennu. The finding supports the theory that near-Earth asteroids,

Astronomers are closely monitoring Asteroid 2024 YR4 as it heads towards Earth. Should we be worried about it? Here's what you need to know.

A NASA spacecraft has returned asteroid samples that hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world.

The next close approach of asteroid 2024 YR4 is projected for December 22, 2032, when it may pose a potential danger, with an estimated 1.2% chance of impact.

This artist’s concept shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid’s surface. NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona Scientists studying the sample collected in 2023 from asteroid Bennu have announced a dramatic finding: they have identified the key building blocks of life within the sample.

There are 20 amino acids that create the proteins required for life on our planet — and scientists have now found exactly 14 of them on an asteroid millions of miles away. The asteroid in question, named Bennu, was the focus of a very dreamy NASA mission called OSIRIS-REx that launched in 2016.

The discovery is a capstone achievement for NASA, which went to great lengths to secure and deliver asteroid samples from asteroid Bennu in 2020.

All forms of Earth life have specific chemicals in their makeup, such as amino acids and sugars. Scientists have known that asteroids hold molecules believed to be the precursors to these chemicals. By studying the Bennu samples, they hope to gain more insight into how these ingredients could have evolved.

A capsule carrying about a half cup of dust and rocks from an ancient asteroid named Bennu landed in the Utah desert in 2023. The samples were collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which sent a probe to rendezvous with Bennu in outer space.

The asteroid, designated 2024 YR4, jumped to the top of NASA's risk chart, with a slim but measurable chance of striking Earth in just seven years.