Asteroids remain a mystery to scientists on Earth. In order to find out more about them, scientists have been presented a unique opportunity and NASA is planning to fully capitalise on it.
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According to Space, NASA's DART asteroid crash mission, which is taking place on 26 September, will see the probe slam into the asteroid Dimorphos. The images from this crash would be instrumental for scientists to find out more about what could happen in case a similar asteroid was to hurtle its way onto Earth.
The asteroid Dimorphos is not moving in the direction of Earth and the crash will not accidentally send it towards us.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) mission
BBCreports that the biggest question that the current mission seeks to answer, is what happens if a killer asteroid happens to orbit straight in the direction of Earth. The ruling theory is that we could alter the path of any such asteroid by changing the rock's velocity by a small amount such that it misses our planet.
The current mission will put this theory to the test with a near-head-on crash of the planetary defence probe DART into the 160m-wide Dimorphos at over 20,000km/h.
BBC quotes Dr Nancy Chabot from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, who said,
Dart is the first planetary defence test mission to demonstrate running a spacecraft into an asteroid to move the position of that asteroid ever so slightly in space.
This is the sort of thing, if you needed to, that you would do years in advance to just give the asteroid a small nudge to change its future position so that the Earth and the asteroid wouldn't be on a collision course.
When will it happen and where can you watch?
The time slated for the planned impact is at 23:14 GMT, Monday (00:14 BST, Tuesday). NASA would be observing the event unfold through telescopes, including the new super-powerful space observatory James Webb Telescope.
You can watch the livestream of the event on NASA’s website or on NASA’s Youtube channel. We are expected to be treated to some spectacular views of the incredible event.
Sources used:
Space: ‘ NASA's DART asteroid crash is a rare opportunity for space-rock scientists’
BBC: ‘ Nasa spacecraft lining up to smash into an asteroid’
NASA: ‘ DART’s Small Satellite Companion Tests Camera Prior to Dimorphos Impact’
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