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NASA has delayed the launch of its first-ever planetary defense mission to prevent potentially dangerous asteroids from colliding with Earth.
The mission, called Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), will send a spacecraft to test for the crash in the near-Earth binary asteroid system called Didymos, in 2022. NASA announced on February 17 that the main launch window of this year from July 21 to August. 24 is no longer an option. Instead, the space agency is targeting a save window that opens on November 24 and ends on February 15, 2022, according to a statement from NASA.
The decision to postpone the launch was made by senior management at NASA’s Science Missions Directorate (SMD) following a risk assessment of the DART project schedule. Delaying the launch of the mission will not affect the arrival of the spacecraft to its target, which is slated for October 2022, NASA officials said.
Related: Potentially dangerous asteroids (images)
The recent risk assessment revealed technical issues with two major components of the spacecraft, including its main instrument, the Didymos and Asteroid reconnaissance camera for optical navigation (DRACO), and its deployable solar panels (ROSA). The DRACO imager needs to be beefed up to ensure it can withstand launch, while solar panels are delayed following supply chain issues caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At NASA, mission success and safety are of the utmost importance, and after careful risk assessment it became clear that DART could not be feasibly and safely launched within the window of main launch, ”said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Director of SMD. “To ensure DART is ready for mission success, NASA asked the team to research the launch opportunity as early as possible during the secondary launch window to allow more time for testing. DRACO and the delivery of ROSA, and to provide a safe working environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. “
The DART spacecraft will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA is working with SpaceX and the agency’s launch services program to identify the first possible launch opportunity in this secondary window.
DART will target a binary asteroid system made up of a larger asteroid called Didymos, which is about 2,540 feet (775 meters) wide, and a smaller asteroid satellite called Dimorphos, which is 540 feet (165 m) high. diameter. The mission will test a new planetary defense technique, forcing the spacecraft to crash into Dimorphos to alter the asteroid’s orbital speed through kinetic impact. If successful, this technique could be used to deflect asteroids that pose a threat to Earth.
“While COVID-19 was not the only factor in this delay, it was an important and determining factor for multiple issues,” NASA officials said in the statement. “Testing the equipment before launch is a critical step in any mission to ensure mission success, and project teams allow time in processing schedules to account for potential delays.
NASA’s DART mission will also carry a small satellite called Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroid, or LICIACube, which was built by the Italian Space Agency to observe the impact at Dimorphos and send images of the event back to Earth. . The European Space Agency is also planning a follow-up mission to Dimorphos, known as Hera, which will assess the results of the DART mission and study the site of impact on the asteroid. The Hera mission is expected to launch in 2023 or 2024 and will arrive on the asteroid two years later.
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