NASA reveals plan to shoot asteroid approaching Earth

NASA announced plans to launch a spacecraft that would change the orbit of an asteroid approaching Earth.

Technical graphics to protect Earth from asteroids. Video: Emergency Asteroid Defense Project.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said it will conduct the first test in the DART project to change the trajectory of an asteroid heading towards Earth, CNN reported on July 2, citing a NASA announcement.

DART is a collaborative project betweenNASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland,intended to eliminate the threat from asteroids larger than the size that could burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

The target of the test was the Didymos asteroid system, which does not pose a threat to Earth, including the smaller asteroid Didymos B orbiting the asteroid Didymos A.NASA will launch a refrigerator-sized spacecraft to crash into Didymos B at 13,000 mph.WhenDidymosapproaching Earth in tOctober 2022.

"This technique changes the asteroid's velocity slightly before the moment of impact with Earth, causing a change in the asteroid's trajectory," NASA said in a statement.

Scientists will study the impact and the test's impact on Didymos B's orbit to determine how effective the method is in protecting Earth.

Scientists believe this is an effective method of protecting Earth. "DART is an important step in showing that we can protect Earth from a future asteroid impact," said Andy Cheng, one of the lead scientists at the Johns Hopkins lab.Plans for the test were announced by NASA on June 30, International Asteroid Day./.

According to VNE