In the first-of-its kind, save-the-world experiment, NASA is about to clobber a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away.
This illustration made available by Johns Hopkins APL and NASA depicts NASA's DART probe, foreground right, and Italian Space Agency's LICIACube, bottom right, at the Didymos system before impact with the asteroid Dimorphos, left. DART is expected to zero in on the asteroid Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, intent on slamming it head-on at 14,000 mph. The impact should be just enough to nudge the asteroid into a slightly tighter orbit around its companion space rock.
“This is stuff of science-fiction books and really corny episodes of “StarTrek” from when I was a kid, and now it's real,” NASA program scientist Tom Statler said Thursday. “This really is about asteroid deflection, not disruption," said Nancy Chabot, a planetary scientist and mission team leader at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, which is managing the effort."This isn’t going to blow up the asteroid. It isn’t going to put it into lots of pieces.” Rather, the impact will dig out a crater tens of yards in size and hurl some 2 million pounds of rocks and dirt into space.
The size of a small vending machine at 1,260 pounds , the spacecraft will slam into roughly 11 billion pounds of asteroid. “Sometimes we describe it as running a golf cart into a Great Pyramid,” said Chabot.
Argentina Últimas Noticias, Argentina Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
NASA loads Artemis I rocket with fuel in major troubleshooting testThere were a few leaks along the way but not too many
Leer más »
NASA Fuels Moon Rocket in Artemis I Test But Is Hit Again With Pesky LeaksThere was no immediate decision on whether NASA would try for a liftoff Tuesday given the sporadic nature of the hydrogen leaks, which have bedeviled the launch team for months.
Leer más »
NASA tries fueling moon rocket in test, but leak reoccursThe daylong demo had barely begun when hazardous hydrogen fuel began escaping at the same place and same time as before.
Leer más »
Leak reoccurs in NASA Artemis I moon rocketNASA discovered a leak in its Artemis I moon rocket on Wednesday during a cryogenic tanking test in Florida.
Leer más »
Webb Telescope: NASA Releases Stunning Photo Captured of NeptuneFirst came a set of pictures from the furthest corners of space. Then a stellar snapshot of [...]
Leer más »
NASA fuels moon rocket in test, hit again with pesky leaksNASA's moon rocket faces persistent leaks amid repairs and alterations. Once successfully launched, NASA hopes to eventually see a pair of astronauts landing on the moon in 2025.
Leer más »