27,000 asteroids near Earth
The space agency has been dealing with this for many years. Scientists consider an asteroid impact about 66 million years ago, for example, to be the leading theory for why the dinosaurs became extinct. Scientists are not currently aware of any asteroids that could be headed directly for Earth in the foreseeable future.
— but researchers have about 27,000 asteroids close to ours
Identified planets, around 10,000 of them larger than 140 meters in diameter.
The “Dart” probe, launched in November from the US state of California with the help of a “Falcon 9” rocket, has been on its way to its target for about ten months. “Asteroid Dimorphos: We’ll get you,” NASA tweeted shortly after launch. According to NASA, the probe will only be able to point its camera at Dimorphos about an hour and a half before impact. Directing the flying object precisely toward the asteroid is “incredibly challenging,” said NASA manager Evan Smith.
Asteroids are said to pose no danger even after impact
About 160 meters in diameter, Dimorphos is a type of moon of the larger asteroid Didymos. The mission is designed in such a way that both asteroids should not pose any danger even after the impact of the probe, which has only one camera on board.
After impact, Dimorphos’ roughly 12-hour orbit is expected to be at least 73 seconds shorter and possibly up to 10 minutes shorter. For scientists, then the real work begins: investigating what exactly happened before, during and after the impact, and what that might mean for protecting the earth. In 2024, Esa’s “Hera” mission will begin for even more detailed investigation.
“Dart” is a “test mission,” NASA manager Andrea Riley emphasized. “Even if we don’t score, we’ll still be able to collect a lot of data. That’s why we’re testing. We want to do it now and not when there’s a real problem.”
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