NASA spacecraft collides, debris could "rain" down to Earth

(NLDO) - According to SciTech Daily, a new study led by Dr. Eloy Peña-Asensio from Politecnico di Milano University (Italy) shows that NASA's 2022 double asteroid redirection test (DART) could cause a new meteor shower for Earth.

DART is a "suicide" spacecraft, tasked with plunging into the asteroid Dimorphos, the "moon" of a larger asteroid named Didymos.

DART broke apart after an Earth defense test, while the asteroid it crashed into also partially broke apart and fragments were thrown into space - Graphic image: ESA

The mission was intended to deflect Dimorphos, as an Earth defense exercise: If an asteroid were to hurtle toward Earth in the future, a spacecraft similar to DART would nudge it away.

The impact caused the half-ton spacecraft to break apart, while Dimorphos also partially broke apart and was diverted.

In the new study, Dr. Peña-Asensio and colleagues looked at the chaotic debris field that the collision created, as well as the factors that might have affected that debris field.

Based on the collision model, they found that many fragments were likely to enter Mars' gravitational field within 13 years for a launch velocity of about 450 m/s.

Meanwhile, some of the most powerful ejected debris is hurtling through space at 770 m/s, and could reach the Earth-Moon system in a similar time frame.

“In the coming decades, asteroid observation campaigns will play a key role in determining whether fragments of Dimorphos from DART’s impact will reach our planet,” said Dr. Peña-Asensio.

The possibility of these fragments reaching Earth is quite high, but according to the authors, we do not need to worry too much.

The debris from this collision is quite small and is expected to cause only a meteor shower in Earth's sky, as each piece burns up in the atmosphere.

If this happens, we will witness the first man-made meteor shower, according to Dr. Peña-Asensio.

NASA is still learning more about the potential ripple effects from the 2022 mission.

In addition, the agency will cooperate with the European Space Agency (ESA) to look directly at the impacts.

ESA's Hera spacecraft will launch this October, with a mission to reach Dimorphos and conduct a "scene investigation".

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tau-nasa-va-cham-manh-vo-co-the-do-mua-xuong-trai-dat-196240924095644495.htm