NASA decided to rehearse the destruction of an asteroid flying towards Earth
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More than 6.5 million miles from Earth on September 26 costs collision of a space probe with an asteroid flying towards the Earth. The event will be broadcast live by NASA.
The mission, called DART, is designed to evaluate the possibility of saving the planet from an asteroid using a collision.
“This is a rare opportunity to conduct a real experiment on an asteroid that does not pose a threat to Earth,” said Bruce Betts, chief scientist at the nonprofit Planetary Society.
He called the DART mission “a big step forward for humanity.” It will not only help scientists evaluate one of the most popular planetary defense ideas, but also provide an interesting way to test it in practice.
The target of the DART probe is an asteroid called Dimorphos. It is 525 feet across and orbits the much larger 2500 foot wide asteroid Didymos. Scientists are hoping to get a clear idea of whether the impact will change the asteroid’s orbit and flight path.
Read also: “Russian scientists supposedly found a crater from the Tunguska meteorite”
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