Science

NASA’s Dart mission successfully hits asteroid, Earth can now defend itself

September 27, 2022
Sezarr

New Delhi: For the first time ever, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, has successfully knocked an asteroid off its course, demonstrating its ability to protect the planet from a potentially catastrophic asteroid impact in the future.

Mission control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, announced Tuesday a successful impact — humanity’s first test to resist an asteroid impact.

“We are ushering in a new era for mankind, an era in which we have the ability to protect ourselves from something like a potentially dangerous, dangerous asteroid impact,” Told Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division. “What a wonderful thing. We’ve never had that capability before.”

While Dimorphos posed no real threat to Earth, the mission was intended to test a “kinetic impactor” method that would verify the extent to which it was possible to redirect asteroids that could potentially threaten the planet. Using the force of kinetic energy, this accident that happened today can save future generations from any real danger.

As expected, the collision slightly changed the asteroid’s speed and path in space, and successfully provided the world with a viable mitigation strategy.

While there is speculation beyond telescopic observations to clearly determine the mission’s full success, NASA has Confirmed That they expect the effect of shortening Dimorphos’ orbit by about one percent, or about 10 minutes. Over the next few weeks, Dimorphos’ orbital change will be studied along with debris ejected from the accident.

Dart Slammed In the asteroid itself which was 9.6 million kilometers away, at a speed of 22,500 kilometers per hour.

Roughly four years from now, the European Space Agency’s HERA project will conduct a detailed survey of both Dimorphos and the asteroid Didymos, with a particular focus on the crater left by the Dart collision and precise measurements of Dimorphos’ mass, NASA They say,

“We don’t know of a single object yet bound for Earth in the next 100 years. But there will eventually be one. We can extract it from our planet’s geological record and even data from the Moon. We now Want to test this technology so that it can be ready when needed.”
During a press conference at the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, Sept. 12.

The most devastating celestial impact occurred 65 million years ago when an asteroid with a radius of 5 kilometers struck Earth and gave us what we know today as the Yucatan Peninsula. influence eliminated Many plant and animal species, including dinosaurs.

In 2019, an asteroid the size of a football field also passed by Earth closer, and another that was the size of a 747 jet, came extremely close in 2021. But not all of these asteroids were expected guests, they were cosmic wonders, the scientists said.

This first event that could have really gone a long way in preventing something devastating was started in November 2021 and has now been carried out. The landmark was streamed live on NASA TV, which is NASA’s own and also the space agency’s YouTube channel.

“No, this is not a movie plot,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson tweeted earlier in the day. “We’ve all seen it in movies like ‘Armageddon,’ but the real life stakes are high,” he said in a pre-recorded video.

effects recording

While further scientific studies are underway, the impact will also be studied with the help of data collected from these instruments.

The spacecraft is carrying its own mini photography instrument, LICIACube (Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids). capture the event Closer, which was deployed from the spacecraft on Sept. 11. The device is programmed to record and capture the impact of the dart, to obtain images of the debris ejected from the collision and a view of the newly formed crater.

The Italian-made CubeSat was to observe the crash from about 1,000 kilometers away and then zoom in on the debris and the latest site of the collision.

The spacecraft was also transmitting other images of the asteroid, which will be captured by its Didymos Asteroid Camera for Reconnaissance and Optical Navigation (DRACO). camera,

During the event, images streamed back to Earth were at a rate of one per second. The boulder-covered surface of the egg-shaped asteroid reminded scientists of Ryugu and Bennu, two other asteroids that have recently been spotted by spacecraft. Dimorphos are regarded by scientists as a pile of asteroid debris consisting of loosely connected rocks.

Dimorphose is relatively unknown

Dimorphos is the size of a football field and poses no immediate threat to Earth. Scientists are aware of dimorphose’s shape and history, but still do not understand its chemical structure.

The DART mission not only tests the feasibility of an instrument that can offset the potential hazard impact, but also bridges the gap to make a better understanding of the asteroid.

Dimorphos is 520 feet or 160 meters wide and is orbiting a 2,560 feet or 780 meters wide asteroid called Didymos. While didymos is still better understood in the scientific community, dimorphos requires further speculation. “We know that it is an isolated body, but we know very little about the shape of the asteroid. We do not know whether Dimorphos is elongated or spherical; we do not know whether it is a rock or a pile of boulders,” said Dart’s said Terek Daly, a deputy instrument scientist on the Asteroid Camera for Didymos Reconnaissance and Optical Navigation (DRACO) and a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which manages the DART mission for NASA Space.com,

It is generally recommended that a 5-10 years The buffer or notice period is necessary for Earth to prepare itself against a killer asteroid attack. And now that all is well with the mission, we may be one step closer to a remarkable achievement that will aid humanity from any potential celestial threats.

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