NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
Hello! In this blog, I'll be talking about NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). This project was the first of its kind, with NASA trying for the first time in history to deflect an asteroid. With this project being successful, NASA confirmed that we have a way to defend ourselves from a once certain impact with an asteroid or object from space.
Here's a link :
This project, which was executed just last week, on the 26th of September, was successful! The satellite that NASA sent to crash into Dimorphos (the asteroid) successfully located and reached the boulder by itself. It used the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) to capture the last images of the asteroid before crashing into it.
Dimorphos is actually a moonlet of another asteroid, the Didymos boulder. NASA is hoping to capture the effects of the kinetic impact by analysing and calculating the way Dimorphos orbits around Didymos since the collision. It took ten months for DART to reach the asteroid, and about two weeks ago, it used its DRACO system to locate the position of the asteroid itself, without the help of the scientist who constructed it. It was confirmed that Didymos and Dimorphos weren't a threat to our planet, in case the kinetic impact project went south. In the weeks to come, NASA will analyse the data and determine whether they were truly able to change the asteroid's orbit. For now, we know technology makes the contact possible, but we don't know about its effectiveness yet.
My opinion :
I think it's incredible that we were able to find a way to protect ourselves from threats that we don't even fully understand yet. Technology has come so far, and it lets us do such amazing things. In some way, I find it soothes some anxiety about the constant threat that imposes the galaxy onto our existence. From another perspective, it makes you wonder if the asteroid that would one day come in contact with the planet should really be stopped. When you think about it, the asteroid that hit the dinosaurs granted us life. With the planet deteriorating from climate change, would pressing the "reload" button be so bad? In objection, yes, it would be so bad. Humanity has come so far already ; science has opened so many doors for us and has granted us the option of saving us from certain doom. This project allows us to know so much more about space and the universe. Now, scientists can analyse the pictures DRACO took of the asteroids to find out where they come from and how they were formed. DART's impact with Dimorphos was broadcasted live, and it was a hell of a thing to watch.
Question :
How far were the asteroids from Earth? (In miles or kilometres)
Hi, my name is Rémi Ouellette, and I will be commenting your blog!
RépondreSupprimerTo begin, the asteroids were 7 million miles away from Earth. To continue, the source pertains to the scientific discourse type. My opinion on the source is similar to yours because I also think that with this technology being available, it is less stressful for humans since we don’t have to worry about asteroids hitting the Earth like in movies. As you wrote, I also believe that we are at the mercy of the galaxy. Just like you, I was able to come up with an environment-related point of view. I thought that because DART was said to be an international collaboration in the source, it means that humans could get together to solve other crises. So much effort was put into finding a solution to a possible threat. However, we know that climate change is real, and world leaders seem to be unable to solve it as a group. Furthermore, I can’t stop myself from admiring how this technology can locate a moving object by itself. I also find it fascinating that humans can have an impact on objects in space 7 million miles away. In the source, when talking about the scientists, it is written: “Over the coming weeks, they will characterize the ejecta produced and precisely measure Dimorphos’ orbital change to determine how effectively DART deflected the asteroid.” (Bardan). So, we don’t know if it was successful yet, but it is still promising.
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