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Source: The post is based on the article “Why a NASA spacecraft will crash into an asteroid” published in Indian Express on 23rd September 2022
What is the News?
On September 26, 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft will intentionally crash into a small asteroid named Dimorphos, however, the asteroid poses no threat to earth.
What is a DART?
DART stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test.
Launched by: DART mission is being developed and led for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Purpose: It is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact.
Target: DART’s target is the binary asteroid system Didymos, which means “twin” in Greek (and explains the word “double” in the mission’s name).
– Didymos is the ideal candidate for humankind’s first planetary defense experiment, although it is not on a path to collide with Earth and therefore poses no actual threat to the planet.
What is the significance of this mission?
DART is a spacecraft designed to impact an asteroid as a test of the technology. DART’s target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth.
This asteroid system is a perfect testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should an Earth-threatening asteroid be discovered in the future.
