NASA DART Spacecraft To Crash Into Asteroid Dimorphos Testing Planetary Defense System

[ExomatrixTV]

NASA DART Spacecraft To Crash Into Asteroid Dimorphos Testing Planetary Defense System

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https://scitechdaily.com/images/DART-Impacting-Asteroid-1536x728.jpg

Today, all eyes will be looking up as NASA intentionally crashes the 1260-pound (570-kilogram) DART spacecraft (https://scitechdaily.com/tag/dart/) into an orbiting asteroid at high speed. ESA’s Estrack network of ground stations, Europe’s ‘eyes on the sky’, will be particularly focused on the humanmade impactor, keeping track as it closes in on the 500-foot-wide (160-meter-wide) moving target in the world’s first test of asteroid deflection.

Dimorphos, the target asteroid, poses no threat to Earth. And don’t worry – DART’s kinetic impact cannot shove the asteroid into an Earth-impacting path. What this experiment should do, is slightly alter the asteroid’s orbit. This will help scientists learn more about deflection for if and when a dangerous asteroid is discovered.

DART impacting the smaller of the two Didymos asteroids, as seen from the larger body. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test, DART, mission launched in November 2021. The fridge-sized spacecraft will fly itself to the Didymos system with a xenon-based electric propulsion system, steering with an onboard camera and sophisticated autonomous navigation software. On September 26, 2022, DART will steer itself into Didymoon at a speed of approximately 6.1 km/s (14,000 mph). ESA (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART)’s desk-sized Hera spacecraft will then reach Didymoon in 2026 for a close-up survey of the results. Credit: ESA (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART) – Science Office


ESA (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART)’s ground stations are a key element in the Agency’s autonomous capability to track and link European missions virtually anywhere in the Solar System, while the Space Safety program is leading Europe in creating a responsible future in space.

https://scitechdaily.com/images/ESA-Tracks-World-First-Asteroid-Deflection.jpg (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART)

Watch the impact live (https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/ESA_Web_TV) as data streams in from DART to ground stations around the globe on September 26, including ESA (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART)’s New Norcia station in Australia. The NASA program starts at midnight CEST and will be streamed on ESA Web TV (https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/ESA_Web_TV) with contributions from ESA’s Hera mission team.


source (https://scitechdaily.com/esas-deep-space-network-tracks-dart-asteroid-impact/)



esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART)

A NASA spacecraft will soon make history when it crashes into an asteroid in the world's first planetary defense test.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART asteroid mission (https://www.space.com/dart-asteroid-mission), will slam a spacecraft into the tiny moon of the asteroid Didymos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65803_Didymos) on Monday, Sept. 26, with the impact set at 7:14 p.m. EDT (2314 GMT). If all goes well, the spacecraft will hit the moonlet, called Dimorphos, and snap images until the moment of impact. You'll be able to see those images live (https://www.space.com/nasa-dart-asteroid-impact-webcasts) in real time. Read on for a handy guide on when it will all happen.

But first, some science. NASA's DART mission launched nearly a year ago on Nov. 24, 2021 to test the use of a "kinetic impactor" to change the orbit of an asteroid (https://www.space.com/51-asteroids-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html) — the first planetary defense test of its kind.

DART's target Dimorphos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimorphos) is about 560 feet (170 meters) wide and orbits its larger parent Didymos once every 11 hours and 55 minutes. The asteroids are about 7 million miles (9.6 million kilometers) from Earth and pose no risk of impacting our planet, NASA has said. DART should hit Dimorphos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimorphos) while traveling at about 14,760 mph (23,760 kph). Here's what DART's last day will be like.

While the stage was set for NASA's DART asteroid impact with its launch in 2021 (https://www.space.com/nasa-dart-mission-launch-asteroid-planetary-defense), the space rock impact action really starts to heat up in the final 24 hours. That's when DART will perform its final maneuver to set it on course for a Didymos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65803_Didymos) impact.

https://scitechdaily.com/images/DART-Double-Asteroid-Redirection-Test.gif

Related: Why did NASA pick Didymos for its asteroid-crash mission? (https://www.space.com/nasa-dart-asteroid-crash-why-didymos)

"After the final maneuver on Sept. 25, approximately 24 hours before impact, the navigation team will know the position of the target Dimorphos within 2 kilometers [1.2 miles]," NASA officials wrote in a statement (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/dart-sets-sights-on-asteroid-target) (opens in new tab). "From there, DART will be on its own to autonomously guide itself to its collision with the asteroid moonlet."


source (https://www.space.com/dart-asteroid-impact-crash-what-time)

65803 Didymos (1996 GT) is a sub-kilometer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometer) asteroid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid) and binary system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_asteroid) that is classified as a >>> potentially hazardous asteroid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentially_hazardous_asteroid) <<< and near-Earth object (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_object) of the Apollo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_asteroid) group.[a] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65803_Didymos#cite_note-Apollo-3) The asteroid was discovered in 1996 by the Spacewatch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewatch) survey at Kitt Peak (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitt_Peak_National_Observatory), and its small 160-metre minor-planet moon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor-planet_moon), named Dimorphos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimorphos), was discovered in 2003. Due to its binary nature, the asteroid was then named Didymos, the Greek word for 'twin'.

Didymos's moon, Dimorphos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimorphos), is the target of the DART (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Asteroid_Redirection_Test) mission to test the viability of asteroid impact avoidance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_impact_avoidance) by collision with a spacecraft, while the whole system is to be visited by LICIACube (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LICIACube), a flyby CubeSat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat) to witness the impact.


source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65803_Didymos)



ESA’s Deep Space Network Tracks DART Asteroid Impact (https://scitechdaily.com/esas-deep-space-network-tracks-dart-asteroid-impact/)

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DART Countdown to Impact - Live!:

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esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART)
nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart/dart-news (https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart/dart-news)

[ExomatrixTV]

Watch a Live Feed from NASA’s DART Spacecraft on Approach to Asteroid Dimorphos:

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NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) has one single instrument onboard – the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical Navigation, aka the DRACO camera. DRACO serves as the spacecraft’s eye and will guide DART to its final destination: impact with asteroid Dimorphos. The stream you’re watching is a real-time feed from the DART spacecraft enabled through the DRACO camera sending one image per second to Earth. For the DART impact broadcast with commentary, watch:

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In the hours before impact, the screen will appear mostly black, with a single point of light. That point is the binary asteroid system Didymos which is made up of a larger asteroid named Didymos and a smaller asteroid that orbits around it called Dimorphos. As the 7:14 p.m. EDT (23:14 UTC) impact of asteroid Dimorphos nears closer, the point of light will get bigger and eventually detailed asteroids will be visible.

At 7:14 p.m., the DART spacecraft is slated to intentionally crash into asteroid Dimorphos. This stream will be delayed due to the time it takes the images to arrive at Earth, plus additional time for feeding the images to various platforms. For the most up-to-date DRACO camera feed, please tune into the NASA DART Impact Broadcast.

After impact, the feed will turn black – due to a loss of signal. After about 2 minutes, this stream will turn into a replay – showing the final moments leading up to impact. That replay file will also become available on NASA websites and social media accounts.

DART is a spacecraft designed to impact an asteroid as a test of technology. DART’s target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth. This asteroid system is a perfect testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should an Earth-threatening asteroid be discovered in the future.


Watch NASA's DART spacecraft slam into a 'moonlet' in amazing visualizations:

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LIVE NASA’s DART Spacecraft Asteroid Impact:

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dart.jhuapl.edu (https://dart.jhuapl.edu)

[DeDukshyn]

I'm sure this ability won't be used to depopulate the earth or attack other countries though ...

[ExomatrixTV]

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[Bluegreen]

Impact Success!

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https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1574539270987173903

[ExomatrixTV]

Bullseye! NASA’s DART Mission Impacts Asteroid Target in World First (https://dart.jhuapl.edu/News-and-Resources/article.php?id=20220926) (Full Report!)




NASA’s DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test:

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NASA's DART Mission Post-Asteroid-Impact News Briefing:

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Nasa Crashes Spacecraft Into Asteroid In Attempt To Knock It Off Course:

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[ExomatrixTV]

Asteroid Smashing Looks Like Nothing You Ever Imagined Super Update!:

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NASA's Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission finished yesterday in a spectacular crash into the Asteroid Dimorphos

[ExomatrixTV]

NASA Just Collided With Asteroid! DART Mission and Why It Matters:

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nasa.gov/feature/dart-s-final-images-prior-to-impact (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/dart-s-final-images-prior-to-impact)



Turns Out, There Is a Way to Nuke a Dangerous Asteroid As a Last Resort:

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llnl.gov/news/late-time-small-body-disruptions-can-protect-earth (https://www.llnl.gov/news/late-time-small-body-disruptions-can-protect-earth)
wci.llnl.gov/simulation/computer-codes/spheral (https://wci.llnl.gov/simulation/computer-codes/spheral)
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576521003921 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576521003921)

[ExomatrixTV]

NASA Asteroid Missions Results Shocked Everyone at NASA, Currently No Explanation:

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This collision by Dart also explains how some asteroids in their benign earth crossing orbits suddenly become hazardous due to the comet like emissions after a collision with a smaller body. I notice that the harder stoney iron and nickel iron asteroids would most likely still require a nuclear device to be detonated to alter the orbit to avoid collision with Earth.

The effects were 30 times stronger than expected ... meaning it IS a "success" but 30 times bigger ... it changed course 4 degrees! ... The plume ejection (asteroid lit up 3 times brighter) could explain the "engine" effect!

cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳