The scientific community is looking for a way to divert the asteroids that are targeting the Earth. As part of this, a defense system developed by NASA is preparing for its first test.
The defense system is designed to crash into a spacecraft and change its direction. The test, scheduled for the 23rd of this month, is called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
The spacecraft will test and land on Dimorphus, the Moonlet asteroid orbiting a large asteroid called Didymus. These asteroids are not a threat to Earth. NASA will use a telescope to monitor the spacecraft’s movement and its impact on the asteroid.
The asteroid Dimorphus is 525 feet in diameter. Although the spacecraft will not be able to destroy it, NASA believes it will be able to change its trajectory. But it is not clear how much the trajectory will change when the spacecraft crashes.
Scientists say this could be similar to the nature of an asteroid. Dart is built using a number of techniques. Launch the Falcon 9 rocket spacecraft of SpaceX under Elon Musk.
Dart size, speed, and weight
A dart the size of a car hits Didymune. It will travel at a speed of 6.5 km per second. The weight of a dart is one-third of a ton. It is reported that it will take five years to see if this works.
The European Space Agency’s mission to Hera, five years later, will assess whether Dart’s mission was a success. Dart will have only a small impact on the demorphus.
The conclusion is that on an asteroid coming towards the Earth, even if it makes such an impact at a great distance from the Earth, it will benefit when it gets close to the Earth. This is an attempt to divert the asteroids from their orbits. NASA’s Dart experiment is aimed at deflecting asteroids that could have a major impact if they hit Earth. “We are trying to avoid a catastrophe,” said Tom Statler, Dart’s program scientist.
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