NASA and ESA test the Earth protection program

The US Space Agency NASA and the European Space Agency ESA prepare to test the planet protection program . Scientists have chosen asteroids on which they will perform experiments with collisions to prevent potential dangers when the object hit the Earth.

Scientists participating in the AIDA (Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment) project met in Geneva (Switzerland). They discussed Japan's Hayabusa 2 probe mission. In April 2019, the ship launched a warhead towards the asteroid Ryugu.

The result of this bombardment was a crater of a larger size than expected, while material on the asteroid's surface crumbled like sand.

The first collision test will be conducted on Didymos' double asteroid (65803).

The results of this experiment are important for the planet protection test under the AIDA project. Scientists must know for sure that the asteroid trajectory after collision with the spacecraft will change according to the scenario.

It may happen that the test does not produce the desired results as it is in computer simulations and experiments.

Therefore, the experts decided, the first test will be conducted on Didymos asteroids (including two asteroids, Didymos A and Didymos B always come together).

A robotic spacecraft in the role of a DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) collision object will crash into the asteroid Didymos B (smaller asteroid, 160 meters in diameter, orbiting the bigger asteroid Didymos A ). This Didymos dual asteroid system is not far from Earth.

The DART spacecraft will crash into Didymos B at 23,760 km / h, reducing the asteroid's speed a bit, enough to change its trajectory.

The ship will be launched into space in July 2021 and collided with the asteroid in September 2022. Just before the collision, DART launched the small LICIA cube observation ship.

This ship is tasked with tracking the collision test and sending photos to Earth. Scientists can also observe the Didymos system through telescopes placed on the ground.

Then in 2023, the Hera spacecraft will be launched into space, so that by 2027 start observing the asteroid Didymos B and then we receive detailed data about the test.

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