Is this the BIG ONE? The reason for all the insanity going on?
In November, NASA will undertake a major risk-averting mission in an attempt to tackle an asteroid that may pose an enormous collision threat to Earth. The mission is called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) and its target is hazardous near-earth binary asteroid Didymos.
In November, NASA will undertake a major risk-averting mission in an attempt to tackle an asteroid that may pose an enormous collision threat to Earth. The mission is called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) and its target is hazardous near-earth binary asteroid Didymos.
☄️ #PlanetaryDefense at @NASA entails finding, tracking, and characterizing near-Earth #asteroids and objects. Here’s what we've found thus far. Our #DARTMission, launching this November, will also be our first test for planetary defense.
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) October 1, 2021
Learn more at https://t.co/1wL4ifObpp pic.twitter.com/8JryeeWQjG
A binary asteroid means that Didymos consists of two bodies, the primary one being 780 meters in length whereas the secondary body (called moonlet) spanning 160 meters in size. The secondary body falls in the range of space bodies that have the most chances of posing a threat of collision with Earth.
NASA’s DART mission aims to collide with the secondary body of Didymos and change its orbital period by several minutes, allowing ample time for the body and collision event to be observed and measured by scientists back on Earth.
