4.5 billion-year-old samples taken to lab for careful examination after years-long journey

Space agency says it successfully changed object's orbit in test last month, exceeding expectations in a proof-of-concept for future threats to life on Earth

Space agency aims to alter orbit of rock by smashing spacecraft, known as DART, into its surface, in venture only attempted in science fiction

Planetary defense experiment aims to slam DART vehicle into rock, adjusting its path, in feasibility test of deflecting other objects that might head catastrophically toward planet

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) set to launch Wednesday and will let scientists see if it's possible to 'nudge' an incoming asteroid from a path that could threaten Earth

Aseel Nama says taking part in monthlong search project was her 'dream'; her team was the only 1-member team allowed, of 116 total

A previously flagged potentially hazardous encounter in 2068 has now been ruled out as dangerous

Hayabusa2 got charcoal-like samples last year from two locations on the asteroid Ryugu and dropped them in the Australian outback

Scientists say country's Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought back gases and hoard of pebbles from its mission to Ryugu

Hayabusa2 spacecraft released capsule Saturday from 220,000 kilometers away, ending 6-year, 5.2 billion-kilometer journey