While we all wait nervously for the SLS launch, there is another exciting NASA mission happening within shooting distance. This Monday, DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) will strike asteroid Dimorphous. This asteroid is part of a binary asteroid system (TWO ASTEROIDS… hence the double in the name); it’s big brother’s name is Didymos. You can get an idea of their relative sizes (and the spacecraft) in the picture below.
But why hit an asteroid you might be thinking? What did poor Dimorphos do??? Well it isn’t Dimorphos in particular but the kind of threat asteroids like these ones can pose to Earth. It was just sixty million years ago that the planet went into a reset after an asteroid collided with the Earth (bye bye dinos!*) Fortunately, all the asteroids of that size were all mapped out and we know none is coming close to us any time soon. However, many asteroids much smaller are yet to be discovered. Even if they don’t wipe out life on the planet, they are large enough to possibly wipe out major cities.
How do we stop those asteroids before they hit us? There are many solutions (none involve totally blowing them up ala Armageddon) but one involves a kinetic impactor. A kinetic impactor (fancy name for a collision) can potentially add enough energy to the system and move the orbit of the asteroid(s) in question. This test on the unfortunate Dimorphos will see how well we model these impacts and whether this could be a feasible tool for a future scenario of an asteroid hurtling toward the Earth.
Good thing for us NASA is having special coverage of the event. Live coverage starts at 6:00 pm EDT (22:00 UTC) on NASA TV. The actual shot should take place at 7:14 pm EDT (23:14 UTC). As a reminder, you can check out NASA TV via their YouTube channel (good for smart TVs) or directly through your browser at https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv.
Happy Exploring!
*The demise of the dinosaurs is actually a hotly contested debate of the exact timing and cause but listen, this isn’t a paleontology blog and I am not gonna touch that…. BUT the asteroid had major implications for life on Earth and definitely would have wiped US out (and the dinos if they were there at the time… okay I need to stop)
