NASA's long-awaited Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission will launch in September and collide with an unfortunate asteroid.
It will be the first time ever tested if a high-speed collision may shove a deadly asteroid off course before it reaches our planet during this planetary defense test mission, which will trial a technology created to deflect potentially Earth-threatening asteroids or comets.
If all goes according to plan, the ship will hit the moonlet at a leisurely 15,000 miles per hour, Futurism notes. Unlike the movie "Armegeddon," the aim isn't to destroy the celestial body, as CBS News reports.
But don't worry, NASA has been almost hilariously cautious to drive home the fact that the asteroid Dimorphos "poses no threat to Earth" in all of its marketing materials.
Where Would NASA DART Hit Dimorphous At the Time of Impact?
According to the findings, the asteroid will be around 10.8 kilometers across when it comes closest to Earth in late September or early October.
NASA predicts that the DART spacecraft will collide with the space rock on September 26 at 7:14 pm EDT.
Notably, the Dimorphos is a member of a binary system, which means it circles the larger asteroid Didymos rather than existing alone. Dimorphos' parent asteroid is 780 meters wide, whereas Dimorphos is 160 meters wide.
"The measurements the team made in early 2021 were critical for making sure that DART arrived at the right place and the right time for its kinetic impact into Dimorphos," Andy Rivkin, the DART investigation team co-lead, said in a statement per Republic World.
"Confirming those measurements with new observations shows us that we don't need any course changes, and we're already right on target," added Rivkin.
In addition to validating Dimorphos' orbital period and predicted position, NASA reports that the researchers improved the method they would employ to ascertain whether DART effectively altered Dimorphos's orbit following the collision.
It is anticipated that the asteroid would approach Didymos closer if the spacecraft is successful in changing its course, and shortening its orbital period.
Scientists are taking rigorous observations to be confident that the spacecraft alone was responsible for changing the asteroid's orbit. The Sun-warmed asteroid's radiation rebound, possibly affecting the orbit, is another unfavorable element of concern.
In order to determine Dimorphos' new orbit after the impact, mission teams will collect measurements once again using ground-based telescopes in October. The time it takes the moonlet to orbit Didymos should be shortened by several minutes, according to scientists.
How Would NASA DART Hit Dimorphous
The two space rocks' precise orbital characteristics are required by scientists for more reasons than only directing DART with accuracy.
Astronomers worldwide will study the asteroids' orbits again after the collision to see whether Dimorphos' orbit accelerated as a result of the crash.
Highly accurate measurements of the initial setup are needed since the modification may be rather minute.
The scientists added per Space.com that asteroid orbits may be affected by less evident factors, such as the pressure of solar radiation, and more overt ones, like the gravitational pulls of bigger things.
The moon will travel closer to the more giant asteroid following the impact, shortening Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos by several minutes.
Astronomers will be able to learn crucial details about Dimorphos' structure and the characteristics of the material it is comprised of by monitoring the change with the greatest degree of accuracy.
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