Asteroids: Space's Rocky Travelers

Did you know that the solar system is full of rocky travelers called asteroids? These fascinating objects are like space's building blocks, left over from when the planets were forming over 4.6 billion years ago. While many asteroids hang out in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, some take exciting journeys across the solar system. Scientists study them to learn about the early solar system and even use telescopes and spacecraft to get up close to these space rocks. In 2022, NASA's DART mission successfully changed the course of an asteroid, showing how we might protect Earth from potential asteroid impacts in the future.