Asteroids hurtling through space at mind-boggling speeds are not just the stuff of sci-fi nightmares—they're a real threat to our planet. While Earth has dodged catastrophic impacts for millions of years, the close calls keep piling up.
Why don't you remind yourself of that Chelyabinsk asteroid which came running into our atmosphere way back in 2013? All of a sudden, it was a very terrifying reminder that the blue planet which we referred to as Earth is always under the threat of these rogue space rocks.
In a valiant move to protect mankind, NASA in 2022 initiated the Double Asteroid Redirection Test DART mission. The aim? To crash a spacecraft into a near-Earth asteroid and find out whether it would be possible to change its trajectory. The objective? A tiny asteroid that revolves around a larger one, Didymal in a binary system called Dimorphos. Whereafter the next what happened was very amazing.
DART Mission Shakes Up the Asteroid World
DART didn’t merely tip over the target, rather, it smashed into it to completely alter its structure. It made a huge dent and indented the asteroid, doing what no one however thought it would do. Prior to the impact, Dimorphos was more rounded within reason stable and slightly discs like.
However, the energy from the impact splayed it in one direction, causing more elongation in one of its axis than the other. This dramatic change not only deformed the shape of Dimorphos, but its spin and revolution tilted the scientist's comfortable posture.
Experts had predicted changes, but what they discovered was far beyond their expectations. Derek Richardson, a lead scientist on the DART mission, revealed that the collision's impact was so powerful that it turned the asteroid's predictable spin into a chaotic tumble. Dimorphos, once calmly aligned with its partner Didymos, is now wobbling unpredictably through space.
With this newfound instability, it is perplexing how such instability has altered the assumed asteroid behavior and even more concerning the unresolved details about their structural composition and the impact over time. If even a small asteroid like Dimorphos can be sent into such disarray, what does that say about bigger and more dangerous objects?
Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
As if that wasn't enough, the success of the DART missions incited insensible urgent issues. Scientists are asking questions, such as whether Dimorphos is in a state that will allow future missions. Is it possible to place experimental equipment on its surface, or is there too much risk in doing so? And what of the debris? How long will it be before it is cleared away, and what new danger might it present?
The DART mission has demonstrated us just how serious a risk we are in. With each novel feature came new urgency to come up with even better strategies for planetary defense.
The European Space Agency is already working on a follow-up mission to the Didymos system to be launched in 2024, but time is not on their side.