Although it may sound like a science fiction movie, NASA has been preparing for months the first active planetary defense techniques to deal with the possible catastrophes that could be caused by the collision of an asteroid with the Earth's surface. With this objective, the DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirection Test or redirection test of a double asteroid system) was born, which next month will impact the asteroid Dimorphos after a ten-month journey. Monday, September 26, is the day chosen for the first mission that will test the defense system against space threats to reach its destination. This has been confirmed by the US agency, which launched this ship last November thanks to a Falcon 9 rocket from Space (23:14 UTC), NASA's #DART spacecraft will intentionally crash into the asteroid Dimorphos, which does not pose a danger to Earth. What does this planetary defense mission consist of? https://t.co/RTrXqnOmLC pic.twitter.com/NTZC18o1bi— NASA in Spanish (@NASA_es)
September 23, 2022 Image for mobile, amp and app Mobile code On Monday, September 26 at 7:14 pm EDT (23:14 UTC), NASA's spacecraft #DART will intentionally crash into the asteroid Dimorphos, which does not represents a danger to the Earth. What does this planetary defense mission consist of? https://t.co/RTrXqnOmLC pic.twitter.com/NTZC18o1bi— NASA in Spanish (@NASA_es)
September 23, 2022 Code AMP On Monday, September 26 at 7:14 pm EDT (23:14 UTC), NASA's spacecraft #DART will intentionally crash into the asteroid Dimorphos, which does not pose a danger to Earth. What does this planetary defense mission consist of? https://t.co/RTrXqnOmLC pic.twitter.com/NTZC18o1bi— NASA in Spanish (@NASA_es)
September 23, 2022 APP Code On Monday, September 26 at 7:14 pm EDT (23:14 UTC), NASA's spacecraft #DART will intentionally crash into the Dimorphos asteroid, which does not pose a danger to Earth. What does this planetary defense mission consist of? https://t.co/RTrXqnOmLC pic.twitter.com/NTZC18o1bi— NASA in Spanish (@NASA_es)
September 23, 2022 The main objective of the DART mission is to demonstrate the validity of the kinetic impact theory, a method that is intended to be used to deflect asteroids from their orbit by crashing a ship into the space body. To achieve this goal, the NASA spacecraft had to travel more than 11 million kilometers until it found the Dimorphos space rock, 70 meters in diameter, belonging to the Didymos binary system. This asteroid, which luckily orbits next to a rock 780 meters in diameter, will test the success or failure of DART in September 2022, when the spacecraft finally crashes into it. Although Dimorphos does not pose any danger to Earth, the destruction of this asteroid will allow NASA to test the effectiveness of this defense system. In this way, they will check if the impact can alter the trajectory of a hypothetical asteroid dangerous for our planet. The space agency has explained that, if everything goes as planned, the mission "will demonstrate that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate toward a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it to change the asteroid's motion in a way that can be measured." using ground-based telescopes. In addition, it will provide data that will allow better preparation in the event of a possible impact with Earth.