NASA made its first planetary defense test crash last year by knocking asteroid Dimorphos slightly off course. While the test was a success, it also caused a swarm of boulders following the collision.
NASA Causes Deadly Boulder Swarm After DART Mission
During its first planetary defense mission last year, NASA unintentionally released a boulder swarm "as deadly as Hiroshima." About 37 rocks, some up to 22 feet broad, were dispersed from the surface of the moonlet Dimorphos when a spacecraft crashed into it have been detected by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, Daily Mail reported.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission's goal was to divert an asteroid away from Earth if it was to approach that planet. Although the test was successful, it had unforeseen implications, the scientists said. Smaller meteorites shooting off into space might have their issues.
Even a 15-foot asteroid striking Earth would produce as much energy
comparable to the atomic bomb detonated in the city of Japan during World War II.
The team compared the horde of space rocks to a 'storm of fragmentation expanding from a hand explosive' hurtling through space at 13,000 mph. UCLA astronomer David Jewitt, the study's lead author, explained that the large space rocks have the same speed as the targeted asteroid, so they are as dangerous.
Scientists are concerned that a boulder from a future asteroid deflection may reach our planet at the same speed as the space rock was going - fast enough to wreak significant damage. None of the debris is now on a collision course with Earth.
Just two seconds before the collision, DART captured a close-up image revealing an identical number of rocks on the asteroid's surface that were the exact sizes and forms as those captured by the Hubble telescope.
The potent Hubble telescope makes observing the rocks in great detail possible. These boulders are among the weakest objects ever seen in the solar system.
Future Hubble observations that track the boulders may provide them with sufficient information to determine their precise paths, Jewitt added.
The study was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
What Is DART?
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was the first mission devoted to studying and testing an asteroid deflection technique that involves altering an asteroid's velocity in space by kinetic collision.
The analysis obtained from the DART mission in 2022 revealed that the spacecraft's kinetic impact successfully changed the asteroid Dimorphos' orbit with it. It was the first large-scale application of asteroid deflection technology and the first time humanity had purposefully altered the motion of a celestial object.
According to Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, we are all accountable for preserving our native planet. After all, it's the only one we have.
He stressed that the DART mission demonstrates how NASA is trying to be prepared for anything the universe may throw at us. NASA has shown that they are committed to protecting the environment. The dedication of the outstanding team at NASA and its international partners marked the mission as a turning point for planetary defense.
RELATED ARTICLE : NASA's DART Spacecraft Worked! Asteroid Killer Changed the Harmless Space Rock's Orbit More Than Expected
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