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On October 11, 2022, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) confirmed success of Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). The mission aimed to change orbit of an Asteroid called Dimorphos by crashing a spacecraft with developed high velocity on its surface.
Dimorphos Is one of two moons orbiting around larger asteroid – Didymos. It did not pose any threat to the Earth. Still, it was chosen for this experiment due to the possibility of making accurate observations of changes in its orbital path from a distance of over 6.8 million miles away.
The actual crash took place on Sept. 26, 2022, but scientists needed two weeks to be sure that Didymos loop was sped up by 32 minutes which is a result that positively surprised everyone. Lori Glaze – NASA’s planetary science division director, said that this is ‘’a watershed moment for planetary defense, and a watershed moment for humanity…”
Though there is not any direct danger of a huge asteroid colliding with Earth and chances for that scenery are relatively very low, from the history of our planet we know that it is not impossible. That fact alone is reason enough for NASA, ESSA, and other space programs to keep working on Earth’s defense strategies. The success of DART can keep us optimistic going into the future especially since it is said to be just a first step.
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This is very informative, but it could carry the potential threat of developing kinetic weapons for use in space. It may sound like sci-fi, but I can imagine the world’s major powers competing with each other in space.