This summer, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission will collide with an asteroid 11 million kilometers from Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ambitious project, which includes NASA and ESA scientists, is a test of technologies for stopping a killer asteroid from colliding with Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If it works, it might pave the path for a new planetary defense system that can deflect incoming space debris before they hit the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plan is based on the scenario of the 1998 blockbuster film “Armageddon,” in which NASA sends a spacecraft to intercept an asteroid before it collides with Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor approach to change the world,” says the researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NASA\u2019s brave battering ram will instead target a tiny asteroid \u2013 or moonlet – orbiting Didymos closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DART will collide with the space rock at a speed of 15,000 mph in an attempt to alter its orbit around its host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After DART collides with its target, NASA and ESA will use Earth-based telescopes to see if the plan worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before, during, and after the impact, a small probe launched accompanying the mission will collect data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“With the help of an onboard camera (called DRACO) and advanced autonomous navigation algorithms, the DART spacecraft will achieve the kinetic impact deflection by purposefully smashing into the moonlet at a speed of around 6.6 km\/s,” NASA explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The moonlet’s speed will be altered as a result of the collision.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This will shift the moonlet’s orbital period by several minutes, allowing telescopes on Earth to watch and measure it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least 26,000 “near-Earth objects” have already been spotted by space specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 4,700 are classified as “Potentially Hazardous Objects” by NASA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This summer, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission will collide with an asteroid 11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":16359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[663],"tags":[902],"class_list":["post-16357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-nasa"],"yoast_head":"\n