'Shot' to the meteorite: NASA prepares to deflect a menacing asteroid

The course change of the asteroid, by means of the impact of a probe, will be measured and analyzed to evaluate if this method is valid in case of the emergence of a real threat.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have joined forces to carry out a Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), considered as a test of the planetary defense system, scheduled for December 2020, reads the official site of the ESA.

It is a unique project that will use the kinetic impact technique to try to change the path of a hypothetically dangerous asteroid for the first time. The main objective of the test is the so-called asteroid Didymos, located about 11 million kilometers from Earth. More specifically its small (in spatial terms) moon, Didymoon, about 150 meters in diameter, a size comparable to the Great Pyramid of Egypt Giza.

In the framework of the mission, the scientists plan to send a space probe into space to collide with the asteroid and change its course. The deviation of the celestial body caused by the impact of the satellite will be measured and analyzed to assess whether this method has any potential in the event that a real threat arises. As for Didymoon, it was chosen as an object of evidence precisely because it is very small and does not represent a great threat.

"We will understand better if this technique can be used even for larger asteroids, which will give us the certainty that we could protect our planet if necessary," said Michael Kuppers, one of the ESA scientists involved in the project.

This video-representation of the DART plan issued by NASA shows how a kinetic impact could redirect an asteroid within the framework of the planetary defense program of the agency.

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