NASA-SpaceX will shoot asteroid to save Earth [TKB Science]

NASA and SpaceX are soon going to launch a spacecraft that will collide with an asteroid circling in distant space. Its purpose is only to know whether the collision changes the direction of the asteroid or not. This will save the Earth from asteroid attacks in the future. The launch of this spacecraft is to be held on November 23.

The US space agency NASA has announced the date of the mission to attack the asteroid with a spacecraft. This spacecraft will collide with this asteroid at a speed of 24,140 kilometers per hour. So that the change in the direction of the asteroid can be recorded. Along with this, it can also be found out whether the collision will change the direction or not. Apart from this, the asteroid’s atmosphere, metal, dust, soil etc. will also be studied during the collision.

According to a NASA statement, the name of this mission is Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). The technique using which this work will be done is being called Kinetic Impactor Technique. This technique has been developed so that the spacecraft can be changed in its direction by colliding with the asteroid coming towards the Earth.

The asteroid on which NASA is about to launch a mission to attack through the DART spacecraft, its name is Didymos. Didymos asteroid is 2600 feet in diameter. There is also a small moon-like stone circling around it. Whose diameter is 525 feet. NASA will target this small moon-like stone. Which will collide with Didymos. After this, the change in the speed of both will be studied from the telescope on Earth.

NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson said that we will know the potential of Kinetic Impactor Technique from this collision. Along with this, it will also be known whether this will work or if any new technology should be invented to save the earth from such asteroids. The DART spacecraft will be sent out of Earth by SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. As soon as the DART spacecraft separates from the rocket, it will move at a speed of 11 million kilometers.

Lindley told that it will go fast to reach Didymos but it will hit its moon at a speed of about 24 thousand kilometers per hour. Hitting at high speed will result in a collision with Didymos which is out of control. Therefore, slowing down the speed of the DART spacecraft, it will be hit by the moon of Didymos. If there is a slight change in the speed of the Moon due to the collision, then it can collide with Didymos. Due to which there can be a slight difference in the speed and direction of both. The lack of speed of even one degree and one kilometer in space can have a big impact. Can prevent collision with Earth.

Simultaneously, the Italian Space Agency’s Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids (LICIACube) is being sent to monitor the DART spacecraft. It will pass near the Didymos asteroid at the time of the collision so that it can take photos of the collision and send its pictures to Earth.

NASA constantly keeps an eye on the near-Earth objects passing around the Earth. If a stone comes up to a distance of 1.3 astronomical units of Earth, that is, 1.3 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun, then it is visible on NASA’s radar. So far, NASA has recorded more than 8000 near-Earth objects around the Earth.

Among the near-Earth objects recorded by NASA, there are some asteroids that are more than 460 feet in diameter. If a stone of this size falls on America, it can completely destroy any one state. If it falls into the sea, it can bring a big tsunami. However, NASA has assured that not one of the 8000 stones revolving around the Earth will hit the Earth for the next 100 years.