The US space agency managed to divert an asteroid from its trajectory by projecting a spacecraft against its surface at the end of September during an unprecedented test mission, which should allow humanity to learn how to protect itself from a possible future threat, NASA announced on Thursday. Tuesday.
The Dart mission ship had deliberately crashed into its target, the asteroid Dimorphos, which is the satellite of a larger asteroid called Didymos. NASA’s device managed to move it, reducing its orbit in 32 minutes, said the head of the space agency, Bill Nelson, during a press conference.
This is “a defining moment for planetary defense and a defining moment for humanity,” he said.
the defense of the planet
It would already have been “considered a great success if (the spacecraft) had only reduced orbit by about 10 minutes. But it actually reduced orbit by 32 minutes,” he added. With this mission, “NASA has shown that we are serious about defending the planet,” he said.
Dimorphos, located about 11 million kilometers from Earth at the time of impact, is about 160 meters in diameter and poses no danger to our planet.
If the goal remains relatively modest compared to sci-fi movie disaster scenarios like “Armageddon,” this unprecedented “planetary defense” mission, called Dart, is the first to test such a technique. . It allows NASA to train in case an asteroid threatens to hit Earth one day.
Source: BFM TV
