A NASA spacecraft, as part of the DART mission (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test), successfully crashed into its target – the asteroid Dimorphos with a diameter of about 160 meters at a distance of 10.9 million km from Earth. This was the first attempt by mankind to change the trajectory of an asteroid in order to prevent a potential collision with our planet.
The kamikaze ship was moving towards its target at a speed of 22,530 km / h and was able to reach its final destination, as indicated by the loss of the radio signal. A few minutes before the impact, the asteroid itself appeared in the camera lens on board DART with boulders on the surface.
“This asteroid first came into our field of vision and we really had no idea what to expect. We didn’t really know the shape of the asteroid, but we knew where we were going to hit. Therefore, we all held our breath at this moment. I’m a little surprised that none of us lost consciousness for a second,” said Elena Adams, systems engineer for the DART mission.
How far the spacecraft managed to change the asteroid’s trajectory remains to be seen. If, with the help of telescopes around the world and even in space, it is possible to prove that the path of the asteroid has changed, then the mission can be considered successful. But this will take at least a few months.
Humanity is now entering a new era in which we have the potential to protect the planet from something like a dangerous asteroid strike, according to NASA director of planetary science Lori Gleizes.
Before the asteroid impact, the DART spacecraft launched a tiny LICIACube satellite that followed it on its way to death and filmed the impact to send back to Earth for researchers. And in 2024, the European Space Agency will send another spacecraft to explore Dimorphos to get a close-up view of the asteroid and everything that remains of the NASA ship itself.
It is worth noting that in fact neither Didim nor its satellite Dimorphos pose any danger to the Earth. However, like none of the known asteroids does not pose a significant and immediate threat to our planet. For NASA, however, the DART mission is a long-term project to test a way for a spacecraft to change the trajectory of an asteroid in case a potentially dangerous object ever approaches Earth.
Source: Trash Box
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