double asteroid redirection test
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The Asteroid Dimorphos Looks Totally Different After NASA’s DART Mission Walloped It
In September 2022, a NASA spacecraft smashed into a tiny asteroid to nudge it off its orbital course. The mission was a success in testing an asteroid deflection method that may come in handy one day, but rather than leaving behind an impact crater, the orbital collision changed the shape of the target asteroid altogether,…
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Hubble Spots ‘Boulder Cloud’ From NASA’s Asteroid-Smashing DART Mission
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have detected nearly 40 boulders near Dimorphos—the target of NASA’s wildly successful DART experiment to deflect a non-threatening asteroid. This isn’t exactly positive news, since it suggests that hitting a bona fide hazardous asteroid might create a cluster of possibly dangerous boulders advancing towards Earth. I’m inclined to frame…
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China Hopes to Redirect a Nearby Asteroid Within the Next Four Years
The global effort to protect Earth from dangerous asteroids is set to become stronger, as China has announced its intentions to test an asteroid redirect system as early as 2025.
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9 Things to Know About NASA’s Armageddon Mission to Deflect an Asteroid
NASA’s DART mission to redirect a non-threatening asteroid is set to launch later this week. Here’s what you need to know about this historic deep-space test and how “kinetic impactors” could eventually protect our civilisation from an asteroid apocalypse.