One of the threats that has troubled the human being since ancient times is the threat asteroid collision with our planet. And it is not an unfounded fear, indeed, from the mass extinction of the Cretaceous Paleogene to the Tunguska Bolide, history already collects a series of events that go from controlled incidents to massive crashes that remind us of the threat that can come from space at any time in the year.

Observation is a key factor in defending against this type of threatand the good news is that the results so far are really reassuring. Although some media like to play with fear and clickbaitsqualified as a passing meteoroid threat, just2 or 3 million kilometers from our planet, the truth is that the risk of a celestial body colliding with our planet during the rest of the century is practically non-existent.

Just because we’ve had decades of calm in this regard doesn’t mean we can ignore the problem. On the contrary, it is a threat against which a human being must prepare as far in advance as possible. And it is because, in the longer term, we can be more prepared when the threat sooner or later materializes and needs to be countered.

In this regard, we have already told you about the DART and HERA projects from NASA and ESA, which is another example of the many collaborations that take place between space agencies, which in this case represent the most complex test to date, of a space defense system against meteorites and other space bodies. Since its launch in November last year DART is targeting a system composed of two asteroids, Didymos with a diameter of 780 meters and Dymorphos, which with its diameter of 160 meters orbits Didymos. DART is scheduled to reach Dymorphos and crash into it on September 26 at a speed of 21,600 kilometers per hour. And today, just a few weeks away from the aforementioned event, NASA released the first DART image of Didymos and Dymorphos.

The objective of this mission is check whether this impact is capable of causing a deviation in the original trajectory. A deviation that, while small in origin, can make a big difference in its trajectory. Indeed, the result will be much more interesting because it will tell us how the binary asteroid system behaves when an external element affects the trajectory of one of them.

Shortly before impact, DART will deploy a small satellite equipped with several cameras to capture and transmit the first images of the impact’s effects on Dimorphos. However, it will provide most of the information about the effect of the impact Hera, a spacecraft of the European Space Agencywhich will perform high-resolution visual, laser and radio science mapping of the asteroid to create detailed maps of its surface and internal structure.

Images: NASA