NASA: What happens when a star looks at the Earth? NASA has a plan, and it involves a crash
There will be no Bruce Willis or Aerosmith, but NASA is preparing to do something. Similar to the 1998 sci-fi hit song “Armageddon:” hitting the skies.
He boarded a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which will take off. From Vandenberg Space Force Base in California just before 10 p.m. at a local time on Nov. 23, The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. Will go into space in the hope of determining “deliberately crashing into an asteroid is an effective way to change its direction.”
“It’s an exciting job,” Andy Cheng, DART’s lead investigator, told reporters on Thursday. “It’s unbelievable.”
a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
The target asteroid is called Dimorphos, orbiting a large asteroid called Didymos. Didymos is half a mile long, and Dimorphos is 520 feet long.
The Didymos orbit around the sun is getting closer to our planet, making it closer to Earth. In 2003, it reached almost 4.5 million miles [4.5 million km] near Earth. However, the two asteroids were chosen by NASA because they said they did not pose a real threat to Earth.
Elena Adams, a DART engineer, said the program had been under development for five years. If the launch is delayed later in November, the party has a window to launch in Feb. 15, 2022.
Lindley Johnson, NASA’s chief defense officer, said the total cost of the campaign, from its inception to a year-long vision after impact. Would cost NASA about $ 330 million.
November continues according to plan
If the launch in November continues according to plan, the DART spacecraft will begin its year-long flight to asteroids. At approximately 15,000 miles per hour, and is expected to be close to September 26-Oct. 1, 2022. The DART system is much smaller than Dimorphos. And unlike “Armageddon,” the plan is not to destroy it entirely, but rather to “provide a small shift.”
Nancy Chabot, DART’s lead coordinator, said giving Dimorphos a touch will affect its cycle around Didymos by about 1%. That may seem small, but if the asteroid were to orbit the Earth, the technology used could make a difference.
“You can just give this asteroid a slight shift, which could involve a major change in its future position. And then the asteroid and Earth would not be in a collision course,” Chabot said.
NASA hopes will be answered about the impact
Many questions NASA hopes will be answered about the impact. Such as how much force needed to bend the atmosphere. How quickly it will move after the impact. If the debris will travel in multiple directions and if an asteroid is built for the media. The camera will be used by a spacecraft before the impact of photographic equipment. And scientists will be able to see its effects with telescopes.
The team that spoke to the media on Thursday. Reiterated that there are no threats to the starry heavens that could cause serious damage in the future. And that this is about preparation.
“We do not want to be in a position where the star is looking at the Earth. And then we have to test this kind of ability.
more than 27,000 Near-Earth objects in our solar system
Currently, there are more than 27,000 Near-Earth objects in our solar system. 891 of which are at least the equivalent of Didymos, according to NASA. For an asteroid or comet to be considered a near-Earth object. It needs to reach within 120.8 million miles from our planet.
Johnson said the reason for doing this now is when something unprecedented happens to Earth suddenly. Until that happens, NASA plans to do more similar tests in the future.
“We may be exploring other strategies or alternatives for asteroid diversification,” he said.