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Tom Horn: Tribulation Trouble - An Asteroid Approaches
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By European Space Agency
Asteroid 2024 YR4 made headlines earlier this year when its probability of impacting Earth in 2032 rose as high as 3%. While an Earth impact has now been ruled out, the asteroid’s story continues.
The final glimpse of the asteroid as it faded out of view of humankind’s most powerful telescopes left it with a 4% chance of colliding with the Moon on 22 December 2032.
The likelihood of a lunar impact will now remain stable until the asteroid returns to view in mid-2028. In this FAQ, find out why we are left with this lingering uncertainty and how ESA's planned NEOMIR space telescope will help us avoid similar situations in the future.
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By European Space Agency
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) newest planetary defender has opened its ‘eye’ to the cosmos for the first time. The Flyeye telescope’s ‘first light’ marks the beginning of a new chapter in how we scan the skies for new near-Earth asteroids and comets.
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By NASA
In collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture, Amazon Web Services, and Colorado State University, NASA turned to students for AI-driven solutions. NASA On March 28, 80 college students filed into Colorado State University’s (CSU) Nancy Richardson Design Center to receive pizza and a challenge: design an intelligent system capable of traversing rugged terrain to provide aid in emergency scenarios.
They had 24 hours to complete this mission.
Co-led by CSU, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, and NASA, the Spring 2025 CSU Hackathon forged a symbiotic relationship between federal agencies looking for novel AI solutions and innovative students hungry for a challenge.
“One of the goals of the Career Center is to create opportunities for relationship building,” said Mika Dalton, CSU’s career center employer relations coordinator. “Events like these really help students connect with industry and identify different career pathways to expand their understanding of where their education could lead them after graduation.”
In teams of four, students chose between two technical prompts grounded in real-world data. The USDA Forest Service posed the “Uncharted Challenge,” asking teams to develop an autonomous mapping system for uncharted National Forest System roads using high-resolution satellite imagery. In the “Rover Challenge” posed by NASA, students were asked to design an algorithm that could autonomously guide a rover across rough terrain to reach an injured firefighter.
Over the next 24 hours, students analyzed lidar and satellite imagery, built algorithms, and tested their models in SageMaker, a development environment hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). As they collaborated on their solutions, students also helped NASA evaluate SageMaker’s potential for agency adoption.
The students’ work delivered tangible value to both agencies, demonstrating novel approaches to real operational challenges like wildfire response, terrain mapping, and emergency search and rescue.
The students did an incredible job showing how AI can solve tough problems, from navigating the Moon to handling emergencies, all in line with NASA’s mission.
Martin Garcia
NASA’s artificial intelligence and innovation lead
For the USDA, accurate and efficient trail maps can support fire crews and forest managers; for NASA, more advanced terrain navigation systems enhance efforts in AI-assisted robotics, including lunar rovers tasked with reaching astronauts or delivering supplies in critical missions. “The students’ consideration for energy efficient lunar vehicle traversal would benefit the agency’s mission to implement extended scientific and engineering missions on the lunar surface,” said NASA data scientist Andrew Wilder.
Winning teams received recognition for Best Overall Project, Ingenuity, Simplicity, and Tenacity. Prizes included letters of recommendation from agency leaders and future opportunities to present their work to NASA and Forest Service staff.
“I had a great team, and we were able to work through several setbacks with clear communication. I also got to meet professionals from NASA, USDA, Forest Service, and AWS. These were great opportunities and so I learned a lot of networking and interviewing from them,” said one participating CSU student.
Ultimately, 98% of post-event student survey respondents indicated a strong enthusiasm to share this event with other students. Along with the endorsement, students shared that it was a great way to learn skills, network, and try something new. Many respondents, while strongly recommending the event, emphasized that the event was very challenging, intense, and a place to apply classroom knowledge.
The hackathon demonstrated what’s possible when creativity, passion, and partnership align. For NASA’s Chief AI Officer (CAIO), it offered a clear proof of concept: a low-cost, high-impact model for advancing AI adoption by connecting real-world challenges with emerging talent. Beyond the technical outputs, NASA gained testable solutions, valuable insights into rapid prototyping, and deeper relationships with federal, academic, and industry partners. The hackathon also provided a repeatable framework for future events with other institutions.
By bringing together mission teams, partners, and student innovators—and fueling them with pizza and friendly competition—NASA is accelerating innovation in bold, creative ways.
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By NASA
The asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI). This is one of the most detailed images returned by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby. This image was taken at 1:51 p.m. EDT (17:51 UTC), April 20, 2025, near closest approach, from a range of approximately 660 miles (1,100 km). The spacecraft’s closest approach distance was 600 miles (960 km), but the image shown was taken approximately 40 seconds beforehand. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab NASA’s Lucy spacecraft took this image of the main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson during its flyby on April 20, 2025, showing the elongated contact binary (an object formed when two smaller bodies collide). This was Lucy’s second flyby in the spacecraft’s 12-year mission.
Launched on Oct. 16, 2021, Lucy is the first space mission sent to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These remnants of our early solar system are trapped on stable orbits associated with – but not close to – the giant planet Jupiter. Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by three asteroids in the solar system’s main asteroid belt, and by eight Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter. April 20, 2025 marked Lucy’s second flyby. The spacecraft’s next target is Trojan asteroid Eurybates and its satellite Queta in Aug. 2027.
Lucy is named for a fossilized skeleton of a prehuman ancestor. This flyby marked the first time NASA sent a spacecraft to a planetary body named after a living person. Asteroid Donaldjohanson was unnamed before becoming a target. The name Donaldjohanson was chosen in honor of the paleoanthropologist who discovered the Lucy fossil, Dr. Donald Johanson.
Learn more about Lucy’s flyby of asteroid Donaldjohanson.
Image credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab
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