NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft will “intentionally” collide early Tuesday morning with Dimorphos, the smallest moon in the binary system also made up of the asteroid Didymos. The objective is to try to change the movement of asteroids that, in the future, could pose a threat to planet Earth.
“DART’s target asteroid is not a threat to Earth. This asteroid system is a perfect testing ground to see if a spacecraft colliding with an asteroid will be an effective way to change its course if a threatening asteroid is discovered.” to Earth in the future.”, explains the US space agency.
The target of the DART spacecraft in this mission is the “binary system” made up of the asteroid Didymos, approximately 780 meters in diameter, and Dimorphos, the moon orbiting Didymos, approximately 160 meters in size.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratorythe mission is led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, which, for the first time in history, will attempt to change the motion of an asteroid in space.
Launched in November 2021, the approximately 600 kg DART spacecraft will be 11 million kilometers from Earth when it hits Dimorphos and will approach the asteroid at 6.1 kilometers per second.
“Following DART’s kinetic impact with its target asteroid Dimorphos, a research team is there to study how the impact of the collision changed the asteroid’s motion in space. This mission engages the international planetary science community and embraces cooperation to address the global problem of planetary defense,” says NASA.
The collision between the NASA probe and the asteroid will take place from 00:14 on Tuesday (mainland Portugal time) and can be seen live on the official channels of the US space agency.
Source: TSF
