The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Dart, a 500 kg "dart" that deflects an asteroid for NASA

2021-11-24T18:05:50.689Z


DECRYPTION - This planetary defense test is being carried out in collaboration with Europe, which will study the impact crater in 2026.


Is humanity capable of deflecting a threatening asteroid to prevent it from ever crashing on Earth?

It is to answer this question that the European (ESA) and American (Nasa) space agencies have devised a life-size test: the Aida - Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment collaboration.

This program has two components.

The most spectacular part started Wednesday morning with the launch of the American probe Dart ("dart" in English).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took this 19-meter-span ship into space, the objective of which was simple: to hit a small asteroid at the end of September 2022 in an attempt to make it move a little.

In 2024, a second spacecraft, European this one and baptized Hera, will leave and will be placed in 2026 in orbit of the asteroid to study it in detail and measure the impact crater.

The cost of each of the machines (launch and operations included) hovers around 300 million euros.

Read also

The Russian missile that relaunches the space battle

“It was a launch

This article is for subscribers only.

You have 85% left to discover.

Pushing back the limits of science is also freedom.

Continue reading your article for € 1 the first month

I ENJOY IT

Already subscribed?

Log in

Source: lefigaro

All tech articles on 2021-11-24

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-03-13T19:14:03.205Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.