A study simulating the final stages of terrestrial planet formation shows that ‘hit-and-run’ encounters play a significant role in the acquisition of water by large protoplanets, like those that grew ...

Asteroids offer valuable windows into the early solar system, given that they are remnants of planetary embryos that failed to form into planets. A recent analysis of samples from Ryugu offered ...

To reproduce the orbits and masses of the terrestrial planets (analogs) of the solar system, most studies scrutinize simulations for success as a batch. However, there is insufficient discussion in ...

Small bodies in the solar system have preserved information from different eras of the evolution of our solar system, from the composition of the presolar nebula that is preserved in cometary nuclei ...

A recent theory has emerged suggesting that the answer to Mercury’s unusually large metallic core may lie in the early history of our solar system. This theory proposes that a soft collision between ...

Suggested Citation: "4 Implications of Planetary Protection Category I Versus Category II for Small Body Missions." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Planetary ...