Every meteorite fall on earth mapped

Or at least those we know about. And where are the known meteorite landing places on earth? These impact zones show where scientists have found meteorites, or the impact craters of meteorites, some dating back as far as the year 2,300BC. The data is from the Meteorological Society and doesn't show those places where meteorites may have fallen but not been discovered

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2013/feb/15/meteorite-fall-map

What's the difference between all those 'space rocks'?

Friday's Asteroid Fly-by

How to spot asteroid 2012 DA14

Amateur astronomers are eagerly anticipating the approach on Friday 15 February of an asteroid, 2012 DA14, which will be the closest 'near miss' to Earth than any other in recent years. At about 19:45 on that day the 50-metre asteroid will be just 35,000 km from the UK, which is just within the ring of geostationary satellites.
It will be possible to view the object from the UK, weather permitting, using amateur instruments, even binoculars. The map above shows the part of the sky where it will appear, looking north-east at 8 pm. But it won’t be a walk in the park, because the object will not be particularly bright, at 8th magnitude. Although in theory it will be visible using only small binoculars, in practice from most UK sites this will be close to the limit of what you can easily see.

And as it’s moving more quickly through the sky than any other predicted natural object we’ve observed, viewers will need to look in precisely that right place at any particular time to be sure of spotting it.

If you miss it you can watch the February 15 asteroid flyby online, in real-time.

Thanks to the Society for Popular Astronomy

Latest from NASA:

NASA Follows Asteroid Flyby
Friday, Feb. 15, 2013 at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST)
For more information, including graphics and animations showing the flyby of 2012 DA14, visit:
www.nasa.gov/asteroidflyby

NASA's Rover Collects First Martian Bedrock Sample

Thanks to the BBC

Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover has finally drilled deep enough into a rock to acquire a powdered sample for analysis.

The fine grey material from the 6cm-hole will be sieved and inspected before being delivered to the robot's onboard labs in the coming days.

It will represent a historic first in planetary exploration - never before has the interior of a rock on another world been probed in such a way.

The US space agency said the drilling was an immense achievement. "This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America," said John Grunsfeld, Nasa's associate administrator for science.

Drilling is absolutely central to the rover's mission in Gale Crater, a deep bowl sited on Mars' equator.
Curiosity is investigating whether past environments at this location could ever have supported life, and getting inside rocks to analyse their make-up will provide some of the most telling evidence.