In just a few years , humans will examine to safely change the electron orbit of an asteroid . The space rock is not grave ; the test will simply evaluate if we have sound technology and models to really obviate an asteroid if the need were to arise .
The mission is part of the international Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment ( AIDA ) quislingism and members of the group recently presented some new ideas regarding AIDA at the European Planetary Science Congress & Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical SocietyJoint Meetingin Geneva .
The new insights come from the recent observation of asteroids from the OSIRIS - REx and Hayabusa-2 mission . Hayabusa-2 , in special , shot an impactor at asteroid Ryuguto collect a subsurface sample . The effects of the encroachment are being study and this will inform the first mission of AIDA , eff as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test ( DART ) .
NASA ’s DART will turn over double asteroid Didymos in September 2022 and will impact the little of the two object , Didymos B or Didymoon , and see if it can convert its trajectory . Modeling what happened on Ryugu might be cardinal to on the dot working out what will materialize to Didymoon .
“ The impact with Hayabusa2 showed that there was no cohesion on the Earth’s surface and the regolith comport like pure backbone . Gravity was rule the appendage , rather than the intrinsic strength of the textile from which the asteroid is made , ” Dr Patrick Michel who presented the findings said in astatement .
“ If gravity is also dominant at Didymos B , even though it is much pocket-size , we could end up with a much bigger volcanic crater than our models and lab - based experiment to date have evidence . Ultimately , very little is known about the conduct of these pocket-sized bodies during encroachment and this could have crowing consequences for terrestrial defense . ”
The DART delegation will found in July 2021 and will be accompanied by LICIACube ( Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging Asteroids ) , a small satellite developed by the Italian Space Agency ( ASI ) , which will be deployed just before impact so it can take images of the upshot .
The second part of the AIDA mission involves the European Space Agency ’s Hera spacecraft , which , if okay , will arrive around the Didymos system in 2027 and will produce the most detailed judgement of the DART tryout .
“ DART and Hera will provide valuable knowledge separately , " said ESA ’s Michael Kuppers . " However , when merge together through the AIDA collaboration , the scientific and technological benefit are enhanced considerably . In an even wide context , comparing the physical properties of Didymos to those of Ryugu from JAXA ’s Hayabusa2 missionary post and the Bennu asteroid studies by NASA ’s OSIRIS - REx mission will significantly give to our savvy of how single and multiple asteroid system phase and evolve . ”
