The DART spacecraft has purposefully crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos, hopefully changing its orbit by a few minutes, in a milestone test of future planetary defense techniques
An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs; now Earthlings are fighting back. The sight of saurian fossils in most any science museum is a potent reminder that asteroids can threaten Earth as they swing around our sun, occasionally coming dangerously close to our planet—or, 66 million years ago, too close. Now scientists have tested a method that might save our planet from future doomsdays.
“We are embarking on a new era for humankind,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s planetary science division, in post-impact remarks during the space agency’s livestream of the event. “An era in which we have the potential capability to protect ourselves from something like a dangerous asteroid impact.”
Scientists wanted DART’s target to be a binary asteroid, where one asteroid orbits another, because such celestial configurations allow easier measurements of small, impact-induced orbital changes. “The deflection is almost instantaneous,” says Patrick Michel of the French National Center for Scientific Research, former lead scientist of AIM and now principal investigator of Hera. In 2013 scientists selected the Didymos system as the target.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Didymos: The monster companion asteroid to Dimorphos, target of NASA's DARTNASA plans to smash into the space rock as part of its mission to protect Earth from devastating asteroid impacts.
Consulte Mais informação »
Dart Impact Day: How To Watch Live Coverage of Spacecraft’s Impact With Asteroid DimorphosNASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is the world’s first mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards. Today, Monday, September 26 at 7:14 p.m. EDT (4:14 p.m. PDT) DART will impact its target asteroid—which poses no actual threat to Earth.
Consulte Mais informação »
When will we know how much DART changed the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos?'It's like if you damaged your wristwatch and it would start running a little bit fast. You might not notice it in the first day or two.'
Consulte Mais informação »
NASA is about to crash a spacecraft into an asteroidThe DART mission is nearing Dimorphos, its target asteroid
Consulte Mais informação »
NASA's DART asteroid crash is a rare opportunity for space-rock scientistsNASA's DART asteroid mission is a rare opportunity for space-rock scientists
Consulte Mais informação »
ESA’s Deep Space Network Tracks DART Asteroid ImpactToday, all eyes will be looking up as NASA intentionally crashes the 1260-pound (570-kilogram) DART spacecraft into an orbiting asteroid at high speed. ESA’s Estrack network of ground stations, Europe’s ‘eyes on the sky’, will be particularly focused on the humanmade impactor, keeping track as it cl
Consulte Mais informação »