The history of space was written a few hours ago by NASAwhile performing a highly ambitious and arduous exercise in planetary defense, intentionally rammed an asteroid with a spacecraft in order to alter its course with the force of kinetic energy.
The mission that was baptized Arrow (“arrow”, in English, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test) represents the first test of this technology. It allows NASA to rehearse the possibility of an asteroid hitting Earth one day, which could pose an existential threat to the planet and humanity.
Although the goal of the DART exercise is much less exciting compared to sci-fi movie scenarios like Armageddon movie, This is an unprecedented mission that opens up new horizons in planetary defense. However, it will take days to weeks before scientists can confirm that the asteroid’s orbit has indeed changed. They will do this thanks to telescopes on Earth, which will monitor the variation of the orbit of the smaller asteroid around the larger asteroid after the collision.
What is included in the DART task?
The kamikaze boat, slightly smaller than the car, fell at a speed that exceeded 20000 km Time on the asteroid, forecast time (at 02:14 Greek time). her teams NASAwho were at the mission control center in Maryland, erupted in cheers at the time of the collision.
A few minutes ago, sir Asteroid DemorphosAt a distance of about 11 million kilometers from Earth, it slowly began to grow in stunning images transmitted directly from the spacecraft’s camera. The irregular gray surface of the rocks was clearly visible. “We are entering a new era, in which we potentially have the ability to protect ourselves from conflict with dangerous people asteroids»Summarization Laurie Glazedirector of planetary sciences at NASA.
Dimorph has diameter 160 meters It does not pose any danger to the planet. It’s a satellite of a larger asteroid, Gemini, and has so far made a complete revolution around it in 11 hours and 55 minutes. NASA wants to reduce the orbit by 10 minutes, in other words, bring it closer to Gemini.
The vehicle traveled for about ten months, after taking off from California. To hit a target as small as the Dimorphus, the last stage of its flight was fully automated, as if it were a self-guided missile.
Three minutes after the collision, a small shoebox-sized satellite called LICIACube, launched by the spacecraft before the collision, was scheduled to pass 55 kilometers from the asteroid to collect images.
At the same time, the project was to be monitored by Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopeswho had to locate the dust cloud so that the amount of ejected matter could be calculated.
It will also allow for a better understanding of the composition of the Dimorph, which represents frequently occurring asteroids, and thus assess the effectiveness of the method.
The European spacecraft Hera, scheduled to launch in 2024, will take a closer look at Demorphos in 2026 to assess the impacts of the impact and measure the mass of the asteroid for the first time.
The significance of the results of the “Armageddon” experiment
Asteroids have been surprises to scientists in the past. In 2020, the US spacecraft Osiris-Rex has gone deeper than expected asteroids benno. The exact structure of dimorphos is not yet known.
“If an asteroid is interacting with the DART impact in a completely unpredictable way, this may lead us to reconsider whether kinetic impact is a technology that could have a general application.”noted Tom Statler, the mission’s chief scientific officer.
66 million years ago, the dinosaurs were wiped out by the collision of an asteroid 10 km in size.
approx 30,000 asteroids of every size has been indexed (relatively) close to the ground. Today, none of the known asteroids threatens our planet, at least for the next 100 years. What has not been registered yet.
Scientists say that one kilometer in size has now been roughly recorded. But they added that only 40% of asteroids larger than 140 meters, which can cause destruction of large areas, have been recorded.
“The most important task for us is to find” those who have not been identified, said the master Lindley Johnson, a specialist in planetary defense at NASA. And the earlier they are found, the more time experts will need to develop a defense plan.
Johnson explains that the DART trial is a critical first step in this direction. “It’s a period of great excitement (…) for space history and even for human history.”
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