NASA’s DART mission changed the path of an asteroid; all you need to know
In the world’s first planetary defense test, a spacecraft from Earth has crashed into an asteroid to change its motion. The test aimed to prove that humanity could deflect a dangerous asteroid if one was headed for Earth.
In the world’s first planetary defense test, a spacecraft from Earth has crashed into an asteroid to change its motion. The test aimed to prove that humanity could deflect a dangerous asteroid if one was headed for Earth. (Image: News18 Creative)
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On September 26, 2022, NASA intentionally crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid 11 million kilometers from Earth. (Image: News18 Creative)
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The target of the mission was Dimorphos, an asteroid in the binary asteroid system Didymos. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Dimorphos posed no threat to Earth. Coming to within 10 mn km of Earth during their 2022 close encounter, made them the ideal candidate for such orbital deflection experiments. (Image: News18 Creative)
DART mission was launched on November 24, 2021, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (Image: News18 Creative)
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DART was a low-cost spacecraft. DART navigated to crash itself into Dimorphos at a speed of approximately 6.1 km per sec. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Before collision, Dimorphos took roughly 11 hours and 55 minutes to circle its 780m-wide partner. This is expected to have reduced by a few minutes following the crash. (Image: News18 Creative)
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“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 Dr Lori Glaze, Director of planetary science at NASA. (Image: News18 Creative)
