NASA Will Change the Course of a Meteor with ‘DART’

Humanity, which left footprints on the surface of the Moon, had exploration vehicles on Mars, and shattered spacecraft on Jupiter and Saturn, is now turning its eyes to asteroids. However, this time, our sense of fear and anxiety is in the foreground, not our curiosity.

Announcing its project called DART about two years ago, NASA stated that they would take a new step in the field of space defense. The first crash test of the DART spacecraft, which will be used to change the course of approaching asteroids and is scheduled for launch this month, will be held in September/October 2022. Didymos, which will pass close to Earth orbit, and an asteroid named Dimorphos with it, were chosen as victims for this mission of NASA.

The spacecraft, scheduled to launch this month, will collide with the meteorite and change its direction:

The main purpose of this project is to test how we can protect ourselves in case of a meteorite that may pose a threat to the Earth in the future. The meteors that DART will try to change, which is planned to be launched between November 24, 2021 and February 15, 2022, do not pose a threat to us. This is actually the reason why scientists chose the meteorites they call Didymos and Dimorphos. It is foreseen that there will be no threat if things go wrong.

The DART spacecraft, weighing 550 kilograms, will be sent to collide directly with Dimorphos. In this mission, which will present scientists’ first data in this field, the DART spacecraft will examine closely how much the small asteroid has changed its direction. NASA suggests that with this mission, the relationship between ‘humanity’ and the Solar System will gain a new dimension. What are your thoughts on this subject? Can an asteroid that could pose a threat to Earth in the future be prevented in this way? You can share your thoughts in the comments section.