What is the term for rock from space before it hits the Earth's atmosphere?

What is the term for rock from space before it hits the Earth's atmosphere?

• A. Asteroid
• B. Meteoroid
• C. Meteor
• D. Comet

Answer: (B)

A meteoroid. In space, small rocky bodies travel as meteoroids; once one enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up it’s seen as a meteor, and if a fragment survives to the ground it’s a meteorite. Asteroids are larger rocky bodies orbiting the Sun, often in the asteroid belt; comets are icy bodies with tails that also orbit the Sun but behave differently as they are heated. So the term for rock from space before it hits the atmosphere is meteoroid.

A meteoroid. In space, small rocky bodies travel as meteoroids; once one enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up it’s seen as a meteor, and if a fragment survives to the ground it’s a meteorite. Asteroids are larger rocky bodies orbiting the Sun, often in the asteroid belt; comets are icy bodies with tails that also orbit the Sun but behave differently as they are heated. So the term for rock from space before it hits the atmosphere is meteoroid.