![]() ![]() ![]() While the risk of such a disaster is very small, researchers in the U.S, China, and elsewhere are preparing for this outcome by running tabletop exercises, cataloging as many near-Earth objects (NEOs) as possible, and developing new missions like DART to fine-tune our ability to steer any particularly scary objects off-course if necessary. Researchers have built an algorithm that can scan old astronomical images for unnoticed space rocks, helping to detect objects that could one day imperil Earth. In 2010, scientists discovered the first Trojan Asteroid, 2010 TK7, that follows the Earths orbit. However, a smaller object such as Didymos, which measures about half a mile, could still deal enormous regional damage in the event of an impact. The rocky remnants are leftover the early formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. In the near term, it is incredibly unlikely that our planet will face the kind of apocalyptic collision that wiped out the dinosaurs, and countless other species, 66 million years ago, because most large objects are already being tracked by scientists. NASA scientists have identified more than one million asteroids to date. These asteroid deflection missions are designed to anticipate the threat of a potential impact to Earth. The European Space agency also plans to send a follow-up mission, called Hera, to Didymos around 2026, to assess the long-term change to the system. If all goes to plan, a small satellite called Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube) will take pictures of the collision and its aftermath. The blast-off was shown live on Nasa TV and on the SpaceX Twitter account.Sometime this autumn, DART will slam into the “moonlet” Dimorphos at an estimated 15,000 miles per hour, a deliberate crash that will shift its orbital trajectory around Didymos. ![]() The team behind Dart chose the Didymos system because its relative proximity to Earth and dual-asteroid configuration make it ideal for observing the results of the impact. But scientists say smaller asteroids are far more common and pose a greater theoretical danger in the near term. The asteroid being targeted by Dart poses no actual threat and is tiny compared with the cataclysmic Chicxulub asteroid that struck Earth 66m years ago, leading to extinction of the dinosaurs. There are currently 1,280,364 known asteroids and 3,865 known comets. They are a lot like a fossil record of our early solar system. These chunks of rock, ice, and metal are leftovers from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Cameras mounted on the impactor and on a briefcase-sized mini-spacecraft to be released from Dart about 10 days beforehand will record the collision and beam images of it back to Earth. Our solar system’s small bodies asteroids, comets, and meteors pack big surprises. Once there Dart will test its ability to alter an asteroid’s trajectory with sheer kinetic force. The Dart payload, about the size of a small car, was released from the booster minutes after launch to begin its 10-month journey into deep space, some 6.8 million miles (11 km) from Earth. If the mission is successful, it will mean that Nasa and other space agencies could deflect an asteroid heading towards Earth and avert an Armageddon-style impact. The plan is to crash the robot spacecraft into the moonlet Dimorphos at 15,000mph (24,100km/h) and change its path by a fraction.
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