This Spacecraft Just Smashed Into An Asteroid In An Attempt To Change Its Path

A NASA spacecraft smashed into an asteroid on Monday in a spectacular practice run for the day a dangerous rock approaches Earth.

The innocuous asteroid was struck by the spacecraft DART at a distance of 7 million miles (11.3 million kilometres), travelling at 14,000 mph (22,500 kph). The encounter was expected to alter the asteroid's orbit, form a crater, and launch boulders and other debris into space.

"We have impact!" Elena Adams of Mission Control declared while leaping about and raising her arms in the air.

Telescopes on Earth and in space directed at the same region of the sky to view the show. The asteroid's hit was instantly apparent since DART's radio transmission abruptly stopped, but it may take a few months to establish how much the asteroid's route was altered.

 

The $325 million effort was the first attempt to move any natural object in space, be it an asteroid or else.

"As far as we can tell, our first planetary defense test was a success," Adams later told a news conference, the room filling with applause. "I think Earthlings should sleep better. Definitely, I will."

On Monday, September 26, 2022, the asteroid Dimorphos can be seen being approached by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft in this image captured from a NASA webcast. Credit: NASA/ASI via AP

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson reminded people earlier in the day via Twitter, "No, this is not a movie plot." He added in a prerecorded video: "We've all seen it in movies like "Armageddon," but the real-life stakes are high."

 

Dimorphos, a 525-foot (160-meter) asteroid, will be the target on Monday. It is a moonlet of Didymos, which is Greek for "twin," a rapidly rotating asteroid that is five times larger and which hurled debris off to create the younger companion.

They are the perfect candidates for the test to rescue the earth since they have been orbiting the sun for ages without endangering Earth.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a spacecraft the size of a vending machine that was launched in November, traveled to its target using novel technologies created by Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory.

On Monday, September 26, 2022, the bigger asteroid Didymos fades from view as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft approaches asteroid Dimorphos, center, in this picture captured from a NASA webcast. Credit: NASA/ASI via AP

A crucial component of this clever navigation system, the onboard camera of DART, first noticed Dimorphos only an hour or so before impact. Adams, a mission systems engineer at Johns Hopkins, screamed, "Woo hoo!"

Adams and other ground controllers in Laurel, Maryland watched with mounting enthusiasm as Dimorphos loomed larger and larger in the field of vision alongside its bigger companion with a picture coming back to Earth every second. Dimorphos appeared in the photographs minutes later all by itself; it resembled a massive grey lemon with pebbles and rubble on the surface. As the radio transmission came to a conclusion, the final image on the screen froze.

Flight controllers shouted, embraced, and gave high fives to one another. The DART team immediately entered a state of jubilation after completing their task. Telescopes on Earth and in space are directed at the same region of the sky to view the show.

"Normally, losing signal from a spacecraft is a very bad thing. But in this case, it was the ideal outcome," said NASA program scientist Tom Statler.

 NASA's DART probe, foreground right, and the Italian Space Agency's (ASI) LICIACube, bottom right, at the Didymos system before contact with the asteroid Dimorphos, left, are seen in this illustration made available by Johns Hopkins APL and NASA. On Monday, September 26, 2022, DART is anticipated to focus on the asteroid with the intention of colliding with it at 14,000 mph. The asteroid's orbit should be somewhat tightened around its partner space rock as a result of the encounter. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben via AP

Scientist Carolyn Ernst from Johns Hopkins University stated the spacecraft was unquestionably "kaput," with leftovers likely in the new crater or ejecting into space with the asteroid's debris.

Scientists argued that DART wouldn't be able to destroy Dimorphos. The spacecraft weighed a pitiful 1,260 pounds (570 kilograms), compared to the asteroid's 11 billion pounds (5 billion kilograms). But it ought to be enough to abbreviate its 11 hours and 55 minutes-long orbit around Didymos.

The impact should reduce that time by ten minutes. Scientists pointed out that the predicted orbital change of 1% might not seem like much. However, they emphasized that over time, it would amount to a considerable change.

"Now is when the science starts," said NASA's Lori Glaze, planetary science division director. "Now we're going to see for real how effective we were."

Given adequate time, planetary security specialists recommend moving a potentially dangerous asteroid or comet out of the path rather than blowing it up and producing several bits that may fall on Earth. Huge space rocks may require a large number of impactors, or even a combination of impactors and speculative "gravity tractors," which would pull an asteroid into a safer orbit using their own gravity.

NASA's DART probe, upper right, is shown in this image provided by Johns Hopkins APL and NASA on a collision path with the asteroid Dimorphos, left, which circles Didymos. On Monday, September 26, 2022, DART is anticipated to focus on the asteroid with the intention of colliding with it at 14,000 mph. The asteroid's orbit should be somewhat tightened around its partner space rock as a result of the encounter. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben via AP

"The dinosaurs didn't have a space program to help them know what was coming, but we do," 66 million years ago, there was a global extinction that was thought to have been brought on by a significant asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions, or both, according to NASA's senior climate consultant Katherine Calvin.

Since its creation by astronauts and scientists 20 years ago, the nonprofit B612 Foundation has pushed for impact tests like DART to safeguard Earth against asteroid attacks. Despite Monday's accomplishment, the executive director of the charity and a former astronaut Ed Lu cautioned that more has to be done to discover the numerous space rocks that are still out there.

According to NASA, much fewer than half of the projected 25,000 near-Earth objects in the hazardous 460-foot (140-meter) range have been found. And of the millions of smaller asteroids that have the potential to cause extensive damage, less than 1% are known.

The Italian Space Agency's (ASI) LICIACube and NASA's DART probe are shown in this image, which was made public by Johns Hopkins APL and NASA, in the Didymos system just before they collide with the asteroid Dimorphos, on the left. On Monday, September 26, 2022, DART is anticipated to focus on the asteroid with the intention of colliding with it at 14,000 mph. The asteroid's orbit should be somewhat tightened around its partner space rock as a result of the encounter. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben via AP

According to Lu, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Energy Department's Vera Rubin Observatory, which is being built in Chile, will revolutionize the asteroid detection industry.

Finding and tracking asteroids, "That's still the name of the game here. That's the thing that has to happen in order to protect the Earth," he said.

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