Nasa successfully crashes spacecraft into asteroid in planetary defense test
A multimillion-dollar spacecraft collided head-on with an asteroid the size of a football stadium on Monday in an unprecedented test of NASA’s ability to defend Earth from a doomsday scenario.
NASA spacecraft successfully hits asteroid Dimorphos 6.8m miles from Earth. The mission, known as Dart (Dual Asteroid Redirection Test), marked humanity’s first attempt to move another celestial body to see if a large asteroid hurtling toward our planet could be successfully deflected.
The spacecraft collided with the asteroid at 15,000 mph at 7:14 PM EDT. Live video showed the debris-strewn surface of the asteroid looming ahead of the spacecraft’s impact, and the mission control room erupted in cheers. Teams of scientists from NASA and Johns Hopkins University embraced when Dart’s successful impact on Dimorphos was confirmed.
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Shortly after the impact, Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, declared a “new era for humanity”.
“[It’s] an era where we potentially have the ability to protect against something like a dangerous hazardous asteroid impact,” Glaze said. “What a wonderful thing. We’ve never had that ability before.”
Samson Reony, mission commentator at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, was equally enthusiastic about the “game-changing” success. “That’s when science and engineering and a great purpose, planetary defense, come together and, you know, a magical moment like this happens,” he said.
FILES-US-SPACE-NASA-DART-space
(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 12, 2022, a man sits at his workstation in the Mission Operations Center during the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) technology media workshop Telecon Briefing and tour at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland ahead of the project’s Sept. 26 test mission. – On Monday, NASA will attempt a feat never before accomplished by mankind: deliberately crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid to slightly alter its orbit, in a key test of our ability to stop space objects from destroying life on Earth. (Photo: Jim WATSON/AFP) (Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
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The goal of the test is to determine whether intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to alter its trajectory. A relatively similar strategy involving a nuclear missile rather than an unmanned spacecraft failed during a pivotal point in Morgan Freeman’s fictional 1998 planetary disaster film Deep Impact.
At a post-mission press conference, Dart scientists described the mission as a success, but warned that it would take about two months before they would know whether the spacecraft had succeeded in its ultimate goal of altering the trajectory of Dimorphos.
They hailed Monday as an “ideal result” of the first phase of the planetary defense test. Dart spotted “basically a target” on the asteroid, said Dart Deputy Program Manager Elena Adams.
“We knew we were going to attack. We all held our breath. I’m kind of surprised none of us passed out.”
She said the craft landed 17 meters from its target; close enough to be a complete success. “It was basically a target. I think as far as we can tell the first test of the planetary defenses was a success and we can applaud that.”
Whether the impact had enough force to move the asteroid remains to be seen, and scientists will be tracking the speed and movements of the asteroid for the next few weeks and making calculations. Still, Adams said, “Earthlings should sleep better, and I certainly will.”
NASA’s mission represents the first attempt to move another celestial body.
NASA’s mission represents the first attempt to move another celestial body. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The scientists insisted that the Dart would not break Dimorphos. The spacecraft packed just 1,260 pounds (570 kilograms), compared to the asteroid’s 11 billion pounds (5 billion kilograms). Dart’s planned self-destruction posed no threat to humanity, NASA spokesman Glen Nagle said.
Nagle said Monday’s test was the first in a series of “planetary protection missions.”
“We want to have a better chance than the dinosaurs had 65 million years ago,” Nagle said, referring to the theory that the prehistoric reptiles that once ruled the Earth died out when the planet was hit by an asteroid.
Nagle added: “All they could do was look up and go, ‘Oh asteroid.’
While no known asteroid larger than 459 feet (140 meters) has a significant chance of hitting Earth in the next century, it is estimated that only 40% of these asteroids have been identified so far.
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The $325 million planetary defense test was the culmination of a journey that began last fall with the launch of Dart. The opportunity for online earthlings to watch the Dimorphos collision live, or at least with a delay of several minutes, came from what NASA calls the mission’s “mini-photographer,” the LiciaCube (short for Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids).
Mission managers expressed their “absolute delight” at seeing the successful impact in real time.
Ralph Semmel, director of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, hailed the “game changer” of what had just been achieved, adding that his team knew they had succeeded when the video went blank. “Normally, losing a spacecraft signal is a very bad thing. But in this case it was the ideal outcome.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed reporting
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