CRAFT TO CRASH INTO AN ASTEROID TO SAVE EARTH

ESA IS WORKING WITH NASA IN THE FIRST EVER MISSION TO DEFLECT THE TRAJECTORY OF AN ASTEROID

Quite a few Hollywood movies have been made on this doomsday principle — an asteroid crashing into earth, wiping out most life forms. We know the threat to be too real because most experts agree that, that was how the dinosaurs became extinct.

But despite the long- term existential threat posed by comet and asteroid impacts, humans still haven’t come up with a solid contingency plan should the planet ever be faced with imminent cosmic death, reports

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TARGET 2022

Fortunately, the European Space Agency ( ESA) is working with Nasa to launch the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment ( AIDA) — the first ever mission to deflect the trajectory of an asteroid, and an essential manoeuvre for any well- rounded impact defense program.

Earlier this week, ESA announced that its contribution to this joint project, the Asteroid Impact Mission ( AIM), is slated for an October 2020 launch. Nasa’s contribution to the mission, an impactor called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test ( DART), is tentatively slated for launch in 2021. This should give the two spacecrafts enough time to reach the binary asteroid system 65803 Didymos by the time it passes close to Earth in the autumn of 2022.

DOUBLE TAG TEAM

First, AIM will land on the smaller of Didymos’ two asteroids, nicknamed “Didymoon.” Compared to its 800- metre wide partner, Didymoon is only about 170 meters in size. Between the lander, orbiter, and the Cube Sats ESA plans to pack along for the ride, AIM will be able to map and survey the asteroid in great detail. That’s a good thing, because once the aptly named DART turns up, all hell will break loose on Didymoon. NASA’s sturdy impactor is expected to collide with the asteroid’s surface at a speed of about six kilometres/ second — fast enough to shift its orbit. In theory.

If all goes according to plan, this impact “will mark the first time humanity has altered the dynamics of the Solar System in a measurable way,” according to AIM program manager Ian Carnelli.

“AIM will be watching closely as DART hits Didymoon,” Carnelli said in an ESA statement. “In the aftermath, it will perform detailed before- and- after comparisons on the structure of the body itself, as well as its orbit, to characterise DART’s kinetic impact and its consequences.”

“It will also give us a baseline for planning any future planetary defence strategies,” he continued. “We will gain insight into the kind of force needed to shift the orbit of any incoming asteroid, and better understand how the technique could be applied if a real threat were to occur.”

If all goes according to plan, this impact will mark the first time humanity has altered the dynamics of the Solar System in a measurable way