A killer asteroid posing a risk to Earth scares NASA and ESA – Tamil News

A double asteroid, located relatively close to Earth and classified as potentially dangerous, has been detected by space experts from NASA and ESA. This type of natural disaster is unlikely to occur, but it would be catastrophic to see it happen, NASA said in 2018. To try to avoid a collision, space agencies have teamed up to launch a mission whose The goal is to find a way to deflect the smallest asteroid from its trajectory into orbit by crushing a spacecraft.

The main object of the double asteroid is called Didymos, while the smaller one is called Didymoon. Didymos is approximately 2,540 feet (775 meters) wide and Didymoon is 540 feet (165 meters) wide. Astrophysicist Brian May said, "If we want to know if it's possible to deflect Didymos, it will be very difficult." Aiming at a 160-meter-wide target over millions of kilometers of empty space, can we We stop an asteroid hitting the planet earth? But we, humans, benefit from the knowledge and science from our side. "He described the twin asteroid game as follows:" Imagine a rock the size of 39; a mountain with another rock the size of the great Giza pyramid swaying around it.The Hera spacecraft will show us things we have never seen before. "

NASA's mission, known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), is supposed to repel the smaller of the two asteroids to monitor the part of its deviant trajectory, while that ESA's Hera company will calculate the results of the impact and calculate its entire trajectory. l & # 39; asteroid. Hera will apparently carry two CubeSats, which will help better understand the consequences of the DART's impact. "The mission will revolutionize our understanding of asteroids and how to protect ourselves from them," ESA said in a statement on Hera.

Didymos is currently about 427 million kilometers from Earth. DART project director Cheryl Reed said the mission launch window should open in July 2021. "According to current estimates, the spacecraft will have a 555 kg (1224 kg) mass. and a closing speed of 24,000 km / h (14,000 km / h).) before striking Didymoon in 2022. The spacecraft will use the "kinetic impact" technique to strike Didymoon and change the motion of the asteroid, "she added.