Never before had something like this been done; NASA tests its defense of the Earth against asteroids by crashing a spacecraft called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) against the planetoid Dimorphos to verify that with this technology, it is possible to divert them from orbit.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also known as NASA, has carried out a test to “know what to do and what not to do in the future” if a dangerous asteroid or comet is headed towards our planet Earth. This experiment has been conducted to test whether it is possible to divert these rocky bodies that circulate through space if one enters our orbit and poses a danger.
dart mission
DART stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. This spaceship is no bigger than a door. However, it can fly 11 million kilometers from Earth while reaching speeds of up to 24,000 kilometers per hour, and its function is to be like a space dart that hits asteroids. In this test carried out during the night of Monday 26 and Tuesday 27, DART impacted against the Dimorphos asteroid that despite not posing a danger or being within our orbit, something had to be used to verify that the defense of Earth was effective.
This asteroid measured about 170 meters, much larger than DART. However, the power of DART seems to have met NASA’s goals. The images show that this ship successfully impacted the asteroid, indicating that the route calculations were correct. Still, it will not be until a few weeks when it will be possible to determine if it has been possible to move its orbit.
Suppose, after the relevant checks, this project is successful. In that case, NASA will be celebrating because the Earth is protected from dangerous asteroids and comets and because this entire ship has an estimated price of 330 million dollars, a very low cost. Below is the average of the scientific projects of the space agency.
