NASA’s DART Mission To Make First-Ever Attempt To Protect Earth From Asteroids: ‘This Is Rocket Science’

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Tuesday night, humanity volition marque its archetypal effort ever to support itself against threats that are retired of this satellite – asteroids.

The entity seemed to ignite successful February, 2013 arsenic the Chelyabinsk meteor careened toward earth. A daze question shattered windows, injuring much than 1,000 people. The motherland of this meteor – a near-earth asteroid astir 20 meters wide.

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“We are perpetually getting deed by tiny meteorites, but we cognize determination are bigger ones retired there,” said Lori Glaze, manager of NASA’s Planetary Science Division. Glaze says that’s wherefore NASA is preparing present for the future, erstwhile an asteroid does endanger beingness connected world and we request to support our planet.

Tuesday night, the DART ngo rockets into outer space. DART stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. Using star powerfulness for propulsion, 10 months from present NASAs DART volition beryllium 6.5 cardinal miles distant and wrong striking region of a near-earth treble asteroid – Didymos – the larger of the two, and Dimorphos, the smaller, oregon “moonlet.”

DART volition beryllium ramming into Dimorphos successful hopes of redirecting it. “The asteroid we are trying to deed is astir the size of a shot stadium,” Glaze said. “And we’re going to effort and deed it with thing the size of a refrigerator.”

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DART won’t person eyes connected Dimorphos until its astir an hr distant from impact. “It volition amusement up arsenic 1 pixel successful the camera,” Glaze said.

The spacecraft volition commencement snapping pics of its people and navigate without quality intervention. “Figure retired what’s the champion space to deed that asteroid and get that momentum transfer,” Glaze said.

Could redirecting nonstop the asteroid successful the incorrect direction? WCBS-TV successful New York asked American Museum of Natural History’s curator of meteorites Denton Ebel. “This is rocket science,” Ebel said. “We cognize these things deed the earth, truthful we request to cognize however to deflect them – particularly large ones.”

Thankfully, scientists cognize of nary large ones heading our way. Rest casual knowing NASA is acceptable to motorboat the aboriginal of our planetary defense.

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You mightiness beryllium wondering wherefore doesn’t NASA conscionable stroke up the asteroid? Glaze says it’s the 1 happening you don’t privation to do. Instead of 1 large asteroid hurtling toward earth, you’ll extremity up with thousands: Blowing it up doesn’t alteration its orbit.