SpaceX and NASA Insane Plan to Crash a Spacecraft into an Asteroid

SpaceX and NASA Insane Plan to Crash a Spacecraft into an Asteroid

The DART Program

The DART program is a multinational space mission being led by NASA to test new methods of planetary defense against objects that are on a trajectory to crash into earth. The purpose is to be prepared in case such a defense deployment is needed in the future.
And honestly, I am glad someone is thinking about this. There are many disaster movies where everyone dies because we were not ready for an extinction-level asteroid collision. DART aims to prepare us for that eventuality.
DART's primary purpose is to determine how exactly an asteroid behaves when impacted by a high-velocity spacecraft. Scientists estimate 25,000 large asteroids are in the Solar System. Therefore, scientists think it is imperative to develop an effective plan if a near-Earth object threatens earth.
While in movies, we like to blow up asteroids, in real life, that can do more harm than good. The reality is that bombing most asteroids and comets large enough to threaten the surface of the earth would add uncertainty more than it would mitigate the threat. So instead of one giant rock coming towards the earth, you will have thousands of smaller rocks coming towards us like a shotgun blast.

DART specifications
Let us look at the specifications for the DART spacecraft. It will be using NASA's NEXT ion thrusters for propulsion in space. NEXT stands for NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster, which uses solar electric propulsion to provide thrust for lightweight spacecraft. Solar Electric Propulsion engines have a significantly higher specific impulse than normal chemical rockets, thus requiring less propellant mass to be launched with a spacecraft.
So, it makes it perfect for a small spacecraft like DART. DART will be powered using 22 m2 solar arrays to generate about 3.5 kW of power. This power will then be used by the NEXT-C engine. The C here stands for a commercial variant of the NEXT ion thruster engine.
DART uses a Roll out solar Array design. This new type of solar array design gives much more energy than traditional solar arrays at much lesser mass. Traditional solar panels used to power satellites are bulky, with heavy panels folded together using mechanical hinges. Roll out solar Array design was tested on the International Space Station in June 2017 as part of the Expedition 52 mission.
The DART mission will cost about $ 250 million the cost of launch services that SpaceX will be providing.

The Secondary spacecraft
DART won't be launching alone. In fact, another secondary aircraft will be piggybacking with DART. This spacecraft is called the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids or LICIACube for short. This spacecraft is by the Italian Space Agency, the ASI.
The LICIACube is a small 6-unit Cube satellite that will piggyback with DART and will separate shortly before impact to acquire images of the impact and ejecta as it drifts past the asteroid. LICIACube will communicate directly with earth, sending back images of the ejecta after the Didymos B flyby. LICIACube will be the external eyes for the mission.
We have already mentioned the HERA spacecraft project that will launch towards the Didymos asteroid in 2024 and arrive at the asteroid by 2027 to do a detailed reconnaissance and assessment of the DART mission. It will see how effective the DART project was. HERA project would carry two Cube sats called the APEX and Juventas.

Target Asteroid for the Test
We have gone into great detail about the DART mission itself. So, let's take a small peek at the target of the DART mission. The mission objective is 65803 Didymos. A binary asteroid system. In a binary asteroid system, one larger asteroid is being orbited by the smaller one.
The primary asteroid called the Didymos A measures around 780 meters in diameter. That is about 2560 feet in the imperial system. The smaller asteroid is the Didymos B, and it measures about 160 m or 520 feet in diameter. Didymos B is in orbit around Didymos A, about 1 km away.
DART will target the smaller asteroid, Didymos B. For those of you who are wondering if this test is dangerous or not, don't worry. Didymos is not an Earth-crossing asteroid, and there is no possibility that the deflection experiment could create an impact hazard for the earth.

#spacex #starship #dartprogram

Special Thanks:

[technologyspace]

When it's expected to crash spacecraft into an asteroid. Any Timeline?

[olivetalukder]

Great video. 👍
But where can I find that background music man? I've been watching the shorts from this channel for a while and that audio has been stuck in my head. I need the clean version of it. 😩