Guj Explaner:NASA will change the path of meteorites from missiles to save the earth, find out what this great experiment is, how to save the earth

NASA may launch its first dart mission of its kind to save the Earth today. The launch window of the spacecraft will open at 11.50 pm Indian time. This means that the mission can be launched after that keeping in view the weather and the rest of the conditions. In this mission, NASA will change the speed and direction of the spacecraft by colliding with the meteorite. This will show how much the speed and direction of a meteorite can be changed so that it does not collide with the earth.

Understand, what is this mission of NASA? How will it work? What is the meteorite that will collide? What is the overall timeline of the mission? And how can your life be saved from it? …

Understand NASA’s mission for the first time NASA has
named this mission DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test). In the mission, NASA will try to find out how to prevent a meteorite coming from space towards the Earth from colliding with the Earth.

NASA has built a spacecraft as part of the mission. The spacecraft will collide with a meteorite called DeMarphos. It will then be known what has changed the speed and direction of the demarfos due to the collision. Based on this, it will be calculated how much can change the direction and speed of any meteorite. The cost of the mission is about 2 thousand crore rupees.

Also, learn about the meteorites that the spacecraft will collide with. The spacecraft will collide with
a meteorite called Didimos. Didimos is a two-part meteorite, first discovered in 1996. A large part of this meteorite is spread over about 780 meters, which is called Didimos. Whereas, the smallest part is spread over about 160 meters, which is called dimorphs. At present the small part (deomorphs) is orbiting the large part (didimos).

However, Didimos never collides with the Earth, so we are not at risk. This is the reason why NASA has chosen it for its mission, so how can it be kept away if any such meteorite comes to earth in future.

One of the reasons for choosing Didimos for the mission is that it passed close to Earth in 2003. In 2022, it will again pass close to Earth.

Understand how the whole mission will work

  • The main part of the mission is an impactor. This impactor will collide with a small part of the meteorite at a speed of about 23760 km per hour. The collision will reduce the speed of this part of the meteorite by about 1%. Which will change its orbit.
  • The mission also includes a secondary spacecraft built by the Italian Space Agency. Its name is LICIACube. This secondary spacecraft will be separated from the main spacecraft 2 days before the collision. His job will be to send photos and other information to the ground during the collision, so that he can get updates about the mission.

How important is this mission?
You may be wondering what the difference is between such a small change in speed and direction. But the thing to understand is that meteorites have been hovering in space for years. If there is even a slight change in speed and direction then this change will get bigger with time. Experts say that even a small change in speed and direction, or whether or not a meteorite will hit the Earth, will give us some time to prepare, which will reduce the damage.

The significance of this mission can be gauged from the fact that if even a 100 meter meteorite collides with the earth, it could wreak havoc on an entire continent.