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Answer 1

Asteroid was a small stone celestial body that revolved around the sun. Its diameter was usually between 10 meters and 1000 kilometers. When it was less than 10 meters, it was called a meteoroid. The 26th Solar System Congress gave a new definition of the Solar System's planets (RESOL 5A). According to this definition, the Solar System's celestial bodies were divided into three categories: planets, dwarf planets, and Small Solar System Bodies (SSBs). The so-called asteroids usually referred to small celestial bodies (SSBs) in the inner solar system (within Jupiter's orbit).

At present, humans had discovered more than one million asteroids, most of which were located between Mars and Jupiter. There were also some that were close to Earth, known as near-Earth asteroids. So far, more than 27,000 had been discovered. Asteroid was generally divided into three types: C-type, M-type, and S-type. These were named after carbon, metal, and silicon compositions, and were usually labeled with carbon, metal, and silicon compositions, respectively. Asteroid size varied greatly, with the largest Ceres being nearly 1000 kilometers (600 miles) in diameter. These asteroids preserved the original information of the formation and evolution of the solar system. They were currently the hot topic of international deep space exploration and the frontier of planetary science research.

Near-Earth asteroids could threaten life on Earth. The asteroid impact event led to the mass extinction of the Cretaceous to the Palaeogene and left craters on Earth. In 2021, the asteroid Apophis passed by Earth, and scientists used this opportunity to test the global asteroid defense system and assess the probability of an asteroid hitting Earth. At present, a total of six asteroid exploration missions had been successfully implemented, including fly-by, companion flight, sample return, and other methods of detection. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency had launched specialized asteroid missions. NASA's near-Earth object detector, Shoemaker, had studied Eros, Dawn had observed Vesta and Ceres, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions had studied Itokawa a and Ryugu, respectively, and sent back samples, and OSIRIS-REx had studied Bennu, collecting samples in 2020 and sending them back to Earth in 2023; NASA's Lucy, which was launched in 2021, would study ten different asteroids, two of which were from the main belt and eight were Jupiter's Trojans. Psyche, which was launched in October 2023, would study a metal asteroid with the same name.

In addition, NASA's Neowise space probe (formerly known as the Wide-Area infrared survey satellite (WINE)) was launched in December 2009. After more than a year of infrared observation of the universe, it went into hibernation in February 2011 due to the depletion of its cooling agent. It was later re-planned as the Near-Earth Body Wide-Area infrared survey satellite (NEOWINE). Its main mission was to find near-Earth asteroids that posed a potential threat to Earth. Over the past decade, more than 3000 near-Earth objects had been discovered and burned up in the atmosphere on November 1, 2024. Although the NEOWise had been retired, NASA would continue to use the ground telescope network and other space probes to monitor near-Earth objects. NASA's near-Earth object survey telescope, the Neo Observer, was expected to be launched at the end of 2027. It would be the first space telescope dedicated to finding near-Earth objects in the infrared band to protect the Earth from the threat of asteroid impact.

Asteroid 9992 (1997TG19) was a rocky Martian asteroid with a diameter of about 4 kilometers. It had a revolution period of 3.20 years and was discovered on October 8, 1997. Asteroid 7335 was 1.1 kilometers or 1.8 kilometers in diameter and came from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was expected to approach Earth and other asteroids on June 23, 2055.

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