Ask an Explainer

Asteroids, such as Vesta and Ceres in the asteroid belt, are being investigated in the Dawn mission by sending a spacecraft directly to them. It is possible to study asteroids from Earth through radar imaging. Radar involves sending signals into space and analyzing the reflected echoes, and from an echo, it is possible to create an image that reveals the asteroid’s size, shape, orbit, and material concentration.  Scientist study asteroids to know which ones will collide into Earth, which are known as Near Earth Objects (NEOs), and analyze their compositions for the evolution of planets as in the Dawn mission.