NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is scheduled to collide with a binary asteroid system in October 2022. The space mission will see NASA strike a pair of space rocks measuring 2,560ft (780m) and 525ft (160m) in diameter respectively. NASA’s interstellar target is 65803 Didymos – an Apollo-type asteroid paired with its own satellite space rock, affectionately dubbed Didymoon. Didymoon is the main target of the mission as it most resembles the type of asteroids which threaten Earth.
The goal is for DART to strike Didymoon with enough force to completely change its orbit around its bigger twin.
The collision will only affect the asteroid’s orbits by “one fraction of a percent” but NASA is convinced this will be enough to measure the difference from Earth.
If successful, NASA’s DART project will set the stage for future asteroid Earth defence missions.
Lindley Johnson, NASA’s planetary defence officer, said: “DART would be NASA’s first mission to demonstrate what’s known as the kinetic impactor technique – striking the asteroid to shift its orbit – to defend against a potential future asteroid impact.”
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The launch window for DART will open in late 2020 and run through to May 2021.
NASA then expects DART to intercept the binary asteroids by October 2021.
By this point in time, the asteroids will be a safe 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth.
Andy Cheng from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory said: “DART is a critical step in demonstrating we can protect our planet from a future asteroid impact.
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“Since we don’t know that much about their internal structure or composition, we need to perform this experiment on a real asteroid.”
Four years after DART derails Didymoon from its orbit, a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite will rendezvous with 65803 Didymos for observations.
The satellite, dubbed Hera, will record high-resolution footage and perform laser and radio scanning of the smaller asteroid.
The collected data will help scientist back on Earth map the interior of the space rock.
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Hera manager Ian Carnelli said: “Such a binary asteroid system is the perfect testbed for a planetary defence experiment but is also an entirely new environment for asteroid investigations.
“Although binaries make up 15% of all known asteroids, they have never been explored before, and we anticipate many surprises.”
The asteroids expert said Hera will also analyse the impact crater left behind by NASA’s DART spacecraft.
Combined with its proviso scans, the ESA hopes to better prepare for future asteroid impacts.
Mr Carnelli said: “This key data gathered by Hera will turn a grand but one-off experiment into a well-understood planetary defence technique: one that could in principle be repeated if we ever need to stop an incoming asteroid.”