NASA is getting ready for a mission that somehow resembles the hit 1998 movie Armageddon. They are planning to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid to determine if intentionally crashing it into an asteroid can change its course.
They are targeting the 520-feet-long asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits the 1-mile-long Didymos. The larger asteroid was discovered nearly two decades ago when it came close to Earth. Its name was derived from the Greek word "twin," which describes it as a larger celestial body with a smaller orbiting moon that they unofficially call Didymos B.
Illustration of DART on course to impact Didymos B, viewed from behind the DART spacecraft
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
According to NASA, its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is a planetary defense-driven test of technologies with a goal to prevent an asteroid impact on Earth. Their first demonstration is to change the motion and direction of an asteroid in space.
Currently, they are in Phase C of the project led by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and managed by NASA's Solar System Exploration Program and the Planetary Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA's headquarters.
The DART spacecraft is designed to achieve the kinetic impact deflection by intentionally crashing into an asteroid at an estimated speed of 6.6 kilometers per second with the aid of the sophisticated autonomous navigation software and an onboard camera named DRACO.
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NASA is Crashing DART into Dimorphos Asteroid
Binary asteroid system Didymos and its moonlet have become the target for NASA's DART mission. The two asteroids are chosen because they pass close to Earth and are not a threat to the planet.
USA Today reported that NASA is planning for the DART spacecraft to crash into Dimorphus, the asteroid that orbits Didymos. DART engineer Elena Adams said that they have been developing the technology for the last five years. They are planning to launch the spacecraft on November 24, 2021, but a launch window on February 15, 2022, is available in case this month's launch gets delayed.
But if all goes to play, the spacecraft will go on to a yearlong journey to the binary asteroid system at roughly 15,000 miles per hour and is expected to reach the asteroids between September 26 to October 1, 2022. Its goal is to give the Dimorphos asteroid a small nudge, unlike in Armageddon.
Planetary defense officer for NASA Lindley Johnson said the total cost of the mission from its inception to the year-long observations is around $330 million.
Ground-based telescopes will observe the impact while images will be collected by a miniature camera-equipped satellite of the Italian Space Agency, which will be ejected 10 days before the impact.
According to Phys.org, the amount of deflection caused by the impact of the spacecraft on the asteroid will depend on the composition of the Dimorphos, which is something that even scientists are uncertain of.
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