The American spacecraft will crash into the meteorite

A US-built spacecraft will plunge into two meteors so scientists can study countermeasures that threaten the Earth's "rocks".

Illustration of American AIDA spacecraft rushing into smaller meteorites in the natural system
Dydimos jelly, while another European spacecraft (above) observed the collision.

Officials from the European Space Agency (ESA) announced a US spacecraft called AIDA (acronym for Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment) will fly to Dydimos - a double meteorite system - by 2022. At that time Dydimos was about 11 million kilometers from Earth, Space reported.

Didymos consist of two meteors with a width of 800m and 150m. They revolve around each other and are not capable of inflicting the earth in the future.

The US spacecraft will fly into smaller meteorites at a rate of about 22,530km / h, and a European Space Agency spacecraft will record the clash. Meanwhile, ground-based devices will also monitor the scene so scientists can find a way to prevent an asteroid from hitting the earth.

"This project is significant in many ways, from applied science to meteorite mining , " said Andy Cheng, a researcher at John Hopkins University in the US. Cheng joined the AIDA project.

The level of public interest in meteorites became larger after a meteorite plunged into central Russia, releasing energy equivalent to 20-25 atomic bombs that the US threw at the Japanese city of Hiroshima. during World War II. After this incident, many politicians and scientists have called on governments to strengthen their ability to monitor and prevent meteorites.