Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was launched by NASA to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards.
1/7The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission.It is the first Kinetic Impactor Method of planetary defence, where a DART spacecraft will be colliding with the asteroid Dimorphos.
2/7Data obtained from DART’s crash will be compared to the data from various computer simulations run by scientists to ascertain whether this kinetic impactor method will remain a viable option in case of an actual threatening asteroid.
3/7The Kinetic Impactor Method involves sending one or more large, high-speed spacecraft into the path of an approaching near-earth object. This could deflect the asteroid into a different trajectory, steering it away from the Earth's orbital path.
4/7Scientists don’t yet know the exact mass of Dimorphos but it is estimated to be around five billion kilograms. The DART spacecraft weighs around 600 kilograms.
5/7It also carries about 10 kg of xenon which will be used to demonstrate the agency’s new thrusters called NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster–Commercial (NEXT-C) in space. NEXT-C gridded ion thruster system provides a combination of performance and spacecraft integration capabilities that make it uniquely suited for deep space robotic missions.
6/7DART is a low-cost spacecraft. It has two solar arrays and uses hydrazine propellant for manoeuvring the spacecraft. Its aim is to test the newly developed technology that would allow a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid and change its course.
7/7The spacecraft carries a high-resolution imager called Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical Navigation (DRACO). Images from DRACO will be sent to Earth in real-time and will help study the impact site and surface of Dimorphos (the target asteroid).
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