Submitted by ionscifi on September 27, 2022 - 09:29
NASA's little DART satellite hit its target asteroid 11 million kilometres away. Hooray!
Now begins a process of observation and analysis to measure what impact it had on the asteroid's trajectory and if such a system could be used to defend our planet.
Submitted by ionscifi on September 27, 2022 - 03:49
In a little over five hours at 9:14 AM AEST, a NASA satellite will hit an asteroid. Deliberately.
This is the first mission in their Double Asteroid Redirection TEST (DART) program to assess the viability of a targeted satellite impact to alter an asteroid's path.
Submitted by ionscifi on November 24, 2021 - 14:50
It looks like the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will make its first launch window. NASA have advised via twitter that it will launch at 5:21 pm AEDT with live coverage commencing at 4:30 pm AEDT.
NASA have also released a short video of Adam McKay, director of Don't Look Up, comparing his movie to the mission.
NASA's latest Small Steps Giant Leaps podcast is available, along with a transcript.
In this one, Lucy Deputy Project Systems Engineer Mike Sekerak discusses the imminent 12 year mission to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
They discuss a range of first and challenges, including the fact this solar powered mission is going out past Jupiter where sunlight is only about 3% as bright as it is in Earth orbit.
