Ars Technica – Set a calendar alert: NASA to broadcast first asteroid redirect on Monday

Enlarge / An artist’s conception of DART’s electronics in the last moments before they suffer catastrophic failure. (credit: NASA)
This coming Monday, NASA will broadcast its first attempt to modify the orbit of an asteroid, a capability that will be essential if we detect an asteroid that poses a threat of colliding with Earth. The planetary defense effort is focused on a craft called DART, for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, which will target a small asteroid called Dimorphos that orbits the larger 65803 Didymos, forming a binary system. If all goes according to plan, DART will direct itself to a head-on collision that slows Dimorphos, altering its orbit around Didymos. NASA has repeatedly…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1883002