The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will conduct a defence test against any imaginable asteroid collision with Earth on September 26.
The US space agency claims it to be the world’s first planetary defence test – Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) – and plans to livestream for the public on its media platforms.
What is the DART mission ?
“The DART is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact,” NASA informed.
This DART test method will have a spacecraft purposely colliding with an asteroid in order to slow its speed and deflect the path. DART’s target is the Dimorphos, a 160 m diameter asteroid which does not present any risk of collision with Earth. It revolves around another asteroid, Didymos, that is roughly 780 m in diameter.
What is the chance of an asteroid hitting Earth?
Although asteroids often come close to hitting the Earth, it has been over 65 million years since a disastrous collision with our planet, which was apparently the reason for the mass extinction of many species, including dinosaurs.
NASA runs the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program to detect, track, and mark near earth celestial objects that are larger than 140 meters (larger than a small football stadium). It asserts that such humongous objects present a risk to Earth because of the level of devastation it would induce if ever smashed with Earth.
{{/usCountry}}NASA runs the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program to detect, track, and mark near earth celestial objects that are larger than 140 meters (larger than a small football stadium). It asserts that such humongous objects present a risk to Earth because of the level of devastation it would induce if ever smashed with Earth.
{{/usCountry}}However, it admits that the plan is purely preparatory, as no such asteroid has a substantial chance to strike Earth for the next 100 years.
When and where to watch the DART mission ?
NASA has planned for wide publicity of its test. It has named September 26 as DART impact day.
The live coverage of the event will start at 6 p.m. (September 27 at 3:30 am as per Indian time ) on NASA TV, the agency’s website and its social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. According to NASA, at 7:14 p.m. (on September 26 at 4:45 am as per Indian time ) the DART will smash the Dimorphos asteroid.