When the movie was released ArmageddonBack in 1998, the idea of hitting an asteroid to prevent it from reaching Earth seemed like a long way off. However, that fictional feat is about to happen in real life. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reported that the ship dart missionwhose objective is to divert the course of an asteroid, will crash into its target on September 26, 2022.
The mission Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) it is a historic planetary defense experiment. It will serve to test a technology that would defend the Earth from potential collisions with asteroids, comets or meteorites.
“These objects are hurtling through space and, of course, they have marked the Moon. Over time, they have also had important impacts on Earth, they have affected our history,” he said. Thomas ZurbuchenNASA associate administrator for science, during a news conference.
NASA specified that the impact against the asteroid Dimorphos It will take place at 11:14 p.m. GMT (6:14 p.m. in Mexico). The collision will be broadcast in real time on the NASA website, as well as on its social networks on Facebook, Twitterand YouTube.
NASA seeks to protect the planet from possible impacts
The DART spacecraft was built for the United States space agency by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). It will travel millions of kilometers autonomously to deliberately crash into Dimorphosa small asteroid that revolves around a larger one called Didymoswith the aim of slightly altering its orbit.
This celestial body does not pose any threat to Earth, they clarify. The test will help show that a spacecraft can navigate toward an asteroid and intentionally collide with it to change its displacement.
In addition, DART will provide important data for the development of these defense systems, thanks to measurements with ground-based telescopes. Thus, humanity will be better prepared if the real danger of an impact presents itself.
“It is not an isolated fact. We want to know what’s wrong with Dimorphos, but the most important thing is to understand what it means, to potentially apply this technique in the future,” he said. Nancy ChabotDART coordinator and who leads the mission.
By 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) will send one the probe HERA to investigate the crater left by the DART hit and determine how the change in motion occurred.
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