The asteroid, about the size of a football stadium, was hit at some 11 million km from Earth. Read more at straitstimes.com.
on Tuesday successfully slammed itself into an asteroid some 10.9 million km from Earthdesigned to prevent a potential doomsday meteorite collision with Earth.
The livestream showed images taken by Dart's own camera as the cube-shaped"impactor" vehicle, no bigger than a vending machine with two rectangular solar arrays, streaked into the asteroid Dimorphos, about the size of a football stadium, at around 7pm EDT . Whether it succeeded beyond accomplishing its intended impact will not be known until further ground-based telescope observations of the asteroid next month.
If in the future a hazardous asteroid is spotted heading towards Earth, it is possible that Nasa, or some other space agency, could send a spacecraft to ram it just as Dart has done. Now that Dart has rammed into Dimorphos, astronomers on Earth will observe the asteroid system with optical and radar telescopes over the coming weeks to see how the spacecraft changed the asteroid’s orbit around Didymos.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NASA to deflect asteroid in key test of planetary defenceWASHINGTON: NASA will on Tuesday (Sep 27) attempt a feat humanity has never before accomplished: Deliberately smacking a spacecraft into an asteroid to slightly deflect its orbit, in a key test of our ability to stop cosmic objects from devastating life on Earth. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
Read more »
NASA to deflect asteroid in key test of planetary defenceWASHINGTON: NASA will on Tuesday (Sep 27) attempt a feat humanity has never before accomplished: Deliberately smacking a spacecraft into an asteroid to slightly deflect its orbit, in a key test of our ability to stop cosmic objects from devastating life on Earth. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
Read more »
Neptune and its rings come into focus with Webb TelescopeNo spacecraft has visited Neptune since 1989, when the Nasa probe Voyager 2 flew past on its way out of the solar system. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
'You cannot survive': Inflation bites as Thai election loomsMore targeted policy measures needed for lower-income households, say experts. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »