[MC]Ronin[MC] Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 The two space agencies are working together to protect Earth NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will discuss the progress of their joint AIDA program, which seeks to explore different options for diverting Earth-dangerous asteroids from their trajectory. The project also provides for a real asteroid deflection test in 2021. It is then planned to send the DART spacecraft to one of the two asteroids in the Didymos pair. It will strike the younger asteroid at a speed of about 23 700 km / h, and the purpose of the experiment is to test whether such an impact can divert the asteroid from its trajectory. The DART apparatus is at NASA and this part of the mission will be led by the US Space Agency. ESA will send the small LICIACube satellite to track the impact and analyze it. Then, in 2024, ESA will also send the Hera apparatus to study the impacted asteroid in detail. Detailed measurements of the site will also be made, as will happen in 2026 when Hera reaches the asteroid. The diameter of the smaller asteroid of the Didymos pair is about 160 meters. This is sufficient to cause serious damage if such a body collides with the Earth. However, it is quite small compared to most typical asteroids that can reach a diameter of up to several kilometers. To deflect such a large asteroid will require a much stronger impact. However, the purpose of the scientists is first to check whether such an approach is realistic at all and approximately how much force is required to deflect a smaller asteroid. Of course, in addition to the size, the structure and composition of the asteroid is important, but it is the first test impact that will provide very valuable information to scientists to be able to make more accurate predictions for most different asteroids. Will the only evidence of dark matter be confirmed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts