{"id":23408,"date":"2021-11-24T08:03:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T08:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wirenewsfax.com\/?p=23408"},"modified":"2021-11-24T08:03:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T08:03:28","slug":"nasa-dart-rocket-mission-to-smack-dimorphos-asteroid-launches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/nasa-dart-rocket-mission-to-smack-dimorphos-asteroid-launches\/","title":{"rendered":"Nasa Dart rocket: Mission To Smack Dimorphos Asteroid Launches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"13\">A spacecraft launched to test technology that could tip an asteroid off course.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"12\">Nasa&#8217;s Dart mission aims to determine how difficult it would to stop a large space rock colliding with Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"10\">To test how fast and how far the spacecraft can alter its path, it will collide with Dimorphos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"15\">A few hundred metre-thick chunks of cosmic debris could collide with the planet and cause destruction across continents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"17\">At 06:20 GMT, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Dart&#8217;s spacecraft launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"22\">This is the first attempt at deflecting an asteroid in the interest of protecting Earth. However, this particular asteroid does not pose any threat.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>US detects huge Meteor Explosion<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the best way to end the world?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Steroid impact risks are &#8216;underplayed<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"4\">&#8220;Dart will only change the period of Dimorphos&#8217; orbit by a small amount.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"31\">That&#8217;s really all you need in the case that an asteroid&#8217;s discovery is made well in advance,&#8221; Kelly Fast, from Nasa\u2019s planetary defense coordination office, said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"29\">She commented on the launch by saying: &#8220;We are not yet out of the woods. We have to get out Dimorphos. But this is a big step along the path.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"1\">Asteroids are the leftover building blocks of our Solar System.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"25\">A collision can occur in the rare case that a space rock&#8217;s path through the Sun intersects that of Earth, so that they are not both at the same moment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"26\">The Dart mission, which will cost $325m (PS240m), will aim at a pair of asteroids orbiting each other. This is known as a binary.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"21\">Didymos is the larger object, measuring around 780m in diameter, and Dimorphos, its smaller companion, around 160m in width.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"23\">Dimorphos-sized objects could explode with many times as much energy as a standard nuclear bomb, causing widespread destruction and thousands of deaths.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"16\">Asteroids larger than 300m in diameter could destroy entire continents, while ones larger than 1km would have global effects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"2\">Dart will orbit the Sun after it has escaped Earth&#8217;s gravity.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"14\">The binary will be intercepted by Dart as it approaches Earth&#8217;s 6.7 million mile mark in September 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"5\">Dart will hit the moonlet Dimorphos at around 15,000mph (6.6 km\/s).<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"19\">This will change the object&#8217;s speed by just a fraction of millimetre per sec, which in turn will alter Didymos&#8217; orbit.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"11\">Although it is a small shift, it may be enough to cause an object to collide with Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"39\">&#8220;There are many more small asteroids that there are large ones, so the most likely threat we ever face &#8211; if ever we have to face one- is going to be from anasteroid around these size,&#8221; stated Tom Statler at Nasa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"20\">Congress gave Nasa the mandate to track 90% of all near-Earth asteroids greater than 140m (460ft) in 2005.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"9\">This category does not pose a threat to Earth. However, only 40% of the objects have been discovered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"30\">Dart is carrying Draco, a camera that captures images of both asteroids. This will help the spacecraft to point in the right direction for Dimorphos to collide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"18\">The American spacecraft will launch a small, Italian-built satellite named LiciaCube about 10 days before Dart reaches its target.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"35\">Images of the impact and debris plume, as well as the resulting crater will be sent back by the smaller craft.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"28\">Telescopes on Earth will measure the tiny deviation in Dimorphos\u2019 path around Didymos.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"33\">Tom Statler stated: &#8220;What we really want is to know: Did we really deflect an asteroid? And how efficient was it done?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"24\">A binary is the ideal laboratory for such tests.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"37\">The impact should alter Dimorphos orbit around Didymos approximately 1%. This change can be detected using ground telescopes within weeks or months.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>These shoebox-sized satellites could make a huge impact on the world<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"41\">But, Dart would hit a single asteroid and its orbital period around Sun would change by approximately 0.000006%. This would take many years for us to determine.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"32\">It is so tiny that even the best telescopes can&#8217;t see it.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"42\">Dimorphos blocks some Didymos&#8217; reflection light when it passes in front of Didymos, but the reverse happens when Didymos moves behind its smaller companion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"44\">Andy Rivkin, Dart&#8217;s investigator lead, stated that &#8220;we can measure the frequency these dimmings,&#8221; adding, &#8220;That&#8217;s how it&#8217;s possible to know that Dimorphos travels around Didymos for a period of 11 hour, 55 minutes.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"27\">Astronomers will again take these measurements after the impact.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"45\">&#8220;They&#8217;ll occur a little more often &#8211; maybe it will be two every 11 hour 45 minutes, or maybe it&#8217;ll just be 11 hours, 15 minutes,&#8221; Dr Rivkin said. He is based at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel (Maryland).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"38\">Because of its inextricable interior structure, there is some uncertainty about how Dimorphos will react to the impact.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"40\">It might produce lots more debris if Dimorphos has a solid interior, and not a lot of space.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"34\">The kinetic impactor technique is Dart&#8217;s method of dealing with hazardous asteroid.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"wordai-block rewrite-block enable-highlight\" data-id=\"43\">There are many other options, such as moving an asteroid slowly and detonating nuclear bombs &#8211; a technique that is familiar to Hollywood moviegoers like Deep Impact and Armageddon.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A spacecraft launched to test technology that could tip an asteroid off course. Nasa&#8217;s Dart mission aims to determine how difficult it would to stop a large space rock colliding with Earth. To test how fast and how far the spacecraft can alter its path, it will collide with Dimorphos. A few hundred metre-thick chunks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}