On Monday, a spacecraft was launched to investigate. Space collision site.
The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft was rocket-launched on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid it crashed into. Two years ago, NASA During that day’s dress rehearsal, a killer space stone threatens Earth. The experiment, launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral, is the second in a series of planetary defense tests that could one day save the planet.
Crash in 2022 NASA dart spacecraft This shortens Dimorphos’ orbit around its larger brethren, indicating that if a dangerous rock is headed in our direction, it can be thrown off course with sufficient advance notice. I did.
Scientists want to study the impact’s aftermath up close to learn exactly how effective Dart was and what changes are needed to protect the planet in the future.
“The more details we can gather, the more details we can gather because it could be important in planning future deflection missions if they are needed,” University of Maryland astronomer Derek Richardson said before the launch. It’s good enough.”
Researchers want to know whether Dart (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test) left behind a crater or changed the shape of the 500-foot (150-meter) asteroid more dramatically. Richardson, who participates in the dart mission and supports Hera, said that before the dart was shot, it looked like a flying saucer, but now it may resemble a kidney bean.
S. Korbach / ESA
The flurry of darts sent debris and even rocks flying from Dimorphos, further increasing the force of the impact. The debris trail stretched thousands of miles (more than 10,000 kilometers) into space over several months.
Flight director Ignacio Tanco said rocks and other debris may still be floating around the asteroid, posing a potential threat to Hera.
“We don’t really know what kind of environment we’re going to operate in,” Tanko says. “But the whole point of this mission is to go out there and find out.”
European officials described the $400 million (363 million euro) mission as an “investigation of the accident scene.”
Project manager Ian Carnelli said Hera was “returning to the crime scene and obtaining all the scientific and technical information”.
Hera, which is about the size of a small car and carries more than a dozen scientific instruments, needs to fly past Mars in 2025 to increase its gravity and reach Dimorphos by the end of 2026. This is a satellite of the fast-spinning asteroid Didymos, which means twins in Greek. It’s 5 times bigger. At that point, the asteroid will be 120 million miles (195 million kilometers) from Earth.
Hera, controlled by a flight team in Darmstadt, Germany, will attempt to enter orbit around the pair of rocks as its flight range gradually decreases from 18 miles (30 kilometers) to half a mile (1 kilometer). The spacecraft will study the satellite for at least six months, determining its mass, shape, composition, and orbit around Didymos.
Before impact, Dimorphos circled its larger mate from three-quarters of a mile (1,189 meters) away. Scientists believe the orbit could become tighter and more elliptical, potentially even causing the satellite to fall off.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
