This enormous space boulder was first spotted in 2011 as it passed by Tucson, Arizona, by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey. Its estimated width is one mile. However, this time it passed close enough for radar to image it. The little moon orbiting the asteroid at a distance of roughly 1.9 miles, however, was the true surprise.

Scientists at NASA say that large asteroids like this one are frequently binary systems carrying one or more minor moons. But it’s not at all simple to find them in reality.

“It is thought that about two-thirds of asteroids of this size are binary systems, and their discovery is particularly important because we can use measurements of their relative positions to estimate their mutual orbits, masses, and densities, which provide key information about how they may have formed,” stated Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL.

For thirty years, the giant 230-foot dish of the Goldstone Solar System Radar, the biggest completely steerable radar antenna in the world, has been scanning the skies from California’s Mojave Desert. Numerous missions, including the Mars rovers, Cassini on Saturn, the Hayabusa asteroid explorers, and even the recovery of the sun-watching SOHO spacecraft, have benefited from this powerhouse.

Using the same antenna, scientists from Jet Propulsion Laboratory sent radio waves towards the asteroid and collected the reflected signals. We were also able to see surface features like craters and UL21’s nearly perfectly spherical shape thanks to the high-resolution radar photos. It’s not bad, albeit grainy, for an object that traveled 4.1 million miles—or 17 times the distance to our moon—by space.

Just a few days later, on June 29, the Goldstone team managed to take a picture of another asteroid, 2024 MK, as if one cosmic photo opportunity wasn’t enough. This smaller 500-foot rock buzzed within 75% of the distance between Earth and moon, at 184,000 miles. The high-resolution photos are available in NASA’s press release.

The photos offer a close-up view of the beaten terrain of 2024 MK, which features craters, ridges, and rocks up to thirty feet in diameter. Even while it wasn’t quite as huge as 2011 UL21, this was still considered a close call.

According to NASA, these near misses aid in its research into potentially dangerous asteroids and planetary defense planning. We can forecast and get ready for potential dangers more accurately the more information we know about their orbits, spins, and physical characteristics.

“There was no risk of either near-Earth object impacting our planet, but the radar observations taken during these two close approaches will provide valuable practice for planetary defense,” the researchers stated.

Based on an examination by one business, it appears that a Russian satellite experienced a “low-intensity explosion” that resulted in hundreds of debris pieces in low Earth orbit.

U.S. Space Command and commercial space situational awareness companies have reported that on June 26, there was a breakup event involving the Russian remote sensing satellite Resurs P1. More than 100 bits of debris were produced by that incident, and sensors positioned on the ground could follow them.

The reason for the fragmentation is still unknown, but according to LeoLabs—the first organization to make the incident public—the debris was produced by a “low-intensity explosion” that may have occurred during a collision or inside the spacecraft. At least 250 debris bits from that explosion have been found up to 500 kilometers in the air.

This result was reached after the business analyzed the debris cloud using its own instruments to examine the distribution of debris pieces and gain a better understanding of what caused it.

LeoLabs stated in a statement published on LinkedIn on July 3 that “the most likely cause of the event is a low intensity explosion, while much of the debris cloud has yet to be fully analyzed.” “This explosion could’ve been triggered by external stimuli such as an impact by a small fragment (not currently cataloged) or an internal structural failure leading to a propulsion system failure.”

This research eliminates the possibility that the satellite, like Cosmos 1408 in November 2021, was the target of an anti-satellite weapons test. Other signs that such a test was organized or conducted had not been present, such as announcements from the US or Russian forces or limits on airspace.

The satellite itself does not seem to have entirely disintegrated as a result of the explosion. Sybilla Technologies, a Polish space situational awareness company, has observed Resurs P optically and found that the main satellite is still present, rotating every two to three seconds.

The Australian company HEO, which employs commercial satellites to examine other space objects, took images prior to the breakup that demonstrate the failure of the solar panels on Resurs P1 and two follow-on spacecraft, P2 and P3, to properly deploy. It’s unclear how the breakup is connected to this deployment issue.

Even though it doesn’t seem to be the worst-case situation, additional satellites in low Earth orbit are still at risk from the fragmentation event. LeoLabs observed that some of the debris is so high that it passes over orbits that are occupied by numerous other satellites in operation, the International Space Station, and China’s Tiangong space station. It is likely that the particles will stay in orbit for “weeks to months” before decaying due to atmospheric drag.

The corporation said, “This event demonstrates the ongoing risk of defunct spacecraft in orbit.” Decommissioned in 2021, Resurs P1 is scheduled to reenter later this year as its orbit, which is currently approximately 355 kilometers, decays.

Not by yourself, LeoLabs said. More than 2,500 long-lived, intact derelict hardware items, including as defunct rocket bodies and non-operational payloads, could eventually meet a similar end as Resurs P1.

A preview on a video of the rocket’s fourth flight test highlights suggests that SpaceX’s Starship may be testing a new milestone during its upcoming flight test.

A montage of significant moments from Starship’s fourth flight test, which took place on June 6, was shared by SpaceX on X (previously Twitter) on Thursday, July 4. The film includes scenes from the Starship upper stage’s ignition, liftoff, booster separation, and reentry, as well as the Super Heavy booster.

A 400-foot-tall (122-meter-tall) Super Heavy is shown in an animation at the end of the video returning to land at Starship’s launch tower, dubbed “Mechazilla,” next to the words “Next up” and “Flight 5,” implying that the company intends to try to catch the booster during its next flight test. According to the business, SpaceX intends to snag Super Heavy on its launch tower in order to refurbish and restart the rocket more quickly.

Elon Musk, the creator and CEO of SpaceX, has also made similar social media suggestions. “Aiming to try this in late July!” Last month, after Starship’s fourth flight test, Musk wrote on X.

A 60-second animation shows the “chopstick” arms on the massive Mechazilla launch tower grabbing a Super Heavy booster as it approaches Starbase, SpaceX’s South Texas facility, for landing was previously released by the corporation.

Before that, on June 27, the business uploaded a brief video to X showing Mechzilla’s chopstick arms grabbing a Super Heavy that was still while it sat straight on its launch mount. The description of the video read, “Starbase team testing the tower chopsticks for the upcoming catch of a Super Heavy booster,” according to SpaceX.

To date, Starship has launched four times: on March 18, 2024, April and November 2023, and June 6, 2024. Every test was more successful than the last, reaching new benchmarks with each passing.

Starship’s two stages failed to separate on its initial flight, and the vehicle exploded in less than five minutes. During their most recent trip, Super Heavy and Starship both made ocean splashdowns upon returning to Earth’s atmosphere unharmed.

The enormous vehicle was created with off-world travel in mind. NASA intends to use the rocket to land personnel on the moon during the Artemis mission, while SpaceX wants to send Starship to Mars and maybe assist in settling humans there.