NASA's DART Spacecraft Successfully Crashes Into An Asteroid
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On September 26, 2022, NASA's golf cart-sized DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft intentionally crashed into a distant asteroid. The spectacular collision, observed by telescopes worldwide, was NASA's first practical attempt to alter the path of an asteroid. The $325 million mission was part of the space agency's overall planetary defense strategy to protect Earth from the impact of an errant space rock.
"We're embarking on a new era of humankind, an era in which we potentially have the capability to protect ourselves from something like a dangerous hazardous asteroid impact. What an amazing thing. We've never had that capability before," said Lori Glaze, Director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.
DART's target was a small asteroid called Dimorphos. The space rock measures 530 feet (160 meters) in diameter, or about the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is currently about seven million miles away from Earth. Dimorphos orbits a larger, 2,560-foot (780-meter) asteroid called Didymos.
Neither asteroid is a threat to Earth. The binary asteroid system was selected because observing a change in the orbits of two space rocks is much easier than that of a single asteroid. Additionally, Didymos has the physical properties of objects classified by NASA as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHA).
NASA's team will now use ground-based telescopes to determine if DART's impact altered Dimorphos's orbit around Didymos. The researchers expect the collision to shorten Dimorphos's orbit time by roughly ten minutes.
In October 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the Hera Mission to conduct detailed surveys of the two asteroids. The researchers are particularly interested in knowing more about the crater caused by DART's collision. They also want to obtain precise measurements of Dimorphos's mass. If successful, Hera will be the first spacecraft to explore a binary asteroid system. It will also be the first to visit a space rock as small as Dimorphos.
Resources: NASA.gov, The Verge.com
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95 Comments
colechri70120 daysthat is so sick
iamnerdabout 1 monthim not able to wrap my head around this
michi_luvs2 monthsThis is sick, the technology that is have is LITERALLY out of this world 🌎
chknwngs4 monthsi wanna work at nasa some day- iamnerdabout 1 monthsame i want to be a robotic engineer for them
eddieg26704 monthsR.I.P satelitte
bob_the_builder4 monthsSpace experiments are expensive, that's why each one is so important.
mikolajmickielewicz4 monthsits kinda expensive just for one asteroid- chknwngs4 monthsJUST ONE ASTROID IS A LIFETIMES MEMORY
leoisalive72834 monthsBut it saves us so it’s worth it- leoisalive72834 monthsA machine litterally born to die
- dangerboy05115 monthsHopefully it saves us