NASA is finishing preparations for a mission to change the trajectory of an asteroid’s flight, this project is called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test, that is, testing the redirection of a double asteroid). A test flight of the DART spacecraft is scheduled for November 23. The device should collide with the double asteroid Didyma, changing its orbit and flight trajectory. If successful in the future, such systems could be used to redirect asteroids that threaten Earth.
The DART system is being developed by NASA in conjunction with the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Initially, the launch was planned for 2020, but in the end it was postponed to 2021. The device is due to launch on November 23, and the collision with the asteroid Didim is scheduled for October 2022. DART must collide with Dimorphos, the smaller of the two asteroids that make up Didyme. Dimorphos, which is about 160 m in diameter, plays the role of a satellite in this system, orbiting a larger asteroid. The collision of DART with Dimorphos at a speed of 6.6 km / s will lead to a small change in its own speed and the orbital period of the asteroid. Scientists believe that in the case of asteroids moving towards the Earth, such changes, if impacted in a timely manner, will be enough to prevent a collision.
The DART mission is part of a broader AIDA (Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment) project. The second part of the project is the launch of the Hera spacecraft by the European Space Agency to study the impact of DART on Didim. Its launch is scheduled for October 2024.
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