KILZ FILLZ Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 https://apnews.com/article/nasa-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-1f351c9ce5890c275f1f9b2c884a0278 If all goes well, the boxy, 1,200-pound (540-kilogram) craft will slam head-on into Dimorphos, an asteroid 525 feet (160 meters) across, at 15,000 mph (24,139 kph) next September. Dimorphos orbits a much larger asteroid called Didymos. The pair are no danger to Earth but offer scientists a better way to measure the effectiveness of a collision than a single asteroid flying through space. Dimorphos completes one orbit of Didymos every 11 hours, 55 minutes. DART’s goal is a crash that will slow Dimorphos down and cause it to fall closer toward the bigger asteroid, shaving 10 minutes off its orbit. The change in the orbital period will be measured by telescopes on Earth. The minimum change for the mission to be considered a success is 73 seconds. DART will take 10 months to reach the asteroid pair. The collision will occur about 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth. Ten days beforehand, DART will release a tiny observation spacecraft supplied by the Italian space agency that will follow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KILZ FILLZ Posted November 24, 2021 Author Share Posted November 24, 2021 It’s tough for me to wrap my head around the high level of mathematics this takes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndv Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 What I find a little interesting is that the asteroid they have targeted for this test is not an imenant threat, and will not cross out orbital path. So with that being said, I sure hope the blast doesn't deter the astoids path to later on cross paths with earth's orbit. It's kind like the sayings, don't poke the bear or don't fix what's not broken. But, like you said, it's mathmatics that is way above my head, so I am thinking they took the pros and cons into account? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrasivesaint Posted November 30, 2021 Share Posted November 30, 2021 This thing’s going to slam into a distant planet in we’re going to get America’d by a bunch of aliens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrasivesaint Posted November 30, 2021 Share Posted November 30, 2021 In true fashion, it’ll crash directly into an alien wedding, killing on the women and children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.