NASA has announced that the DART spacecraft will soon collide with an asteroid.
The team in charge of the mission confirmed that everything is on schedule. Collision is expected on September 27 after midnight Pacific time.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is the first mission to change the flight path of an asteroid using a pursuing spacecraft. This is necessary in case of protecting the Earth from a threat from outside.
DART was launched last November on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Sugar. It will have to crash into a binary asteroid system consisting of the large asteroid Didymos (780 meters in diameter) and the satellite asteroid Dimorphos (160 meters in diameter), which orbits around it in approximately 12 hours.
Scientists note that these asteroids are not dangerous for our planet. The operation of checking the security system. To change the flight path of multi-ton space bodies, it is enough to deflect them by a fraction of degrees.
What is DART
He built the foundation of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland, USA.
The main structure consists of a cube about 1 meter across. Equipped with two flexible solar panels, each of which is just over 8 meters long. Total weight – 610 kg.
The device runs on an ion propulsion system powered by industrial batteries. It creates thrust using xenon as fuel.
The DRACO camera is used to fly and calculate the dimensions of asteroids. Image with image on the ground in real time memory. The SMART Nav (Small Body Maneuvering Real-Time Autonomous Navigation) system is designed to maneuver the kamikaze probe to obtain the optimal position before impact.
Where to watch the collision
NASA will broadcast events on its own website and on YouTube.
If everything goes according to plan, the collision will take place on September 27 at 01:30 Moscow time, and the broadcast will be late at exactly one in the morning. [The Verge]
Source: Iphones RU
