The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test aims to make history when it slams into Dimorphos, a tiny asteroid moon orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos.
NASA's DART mission will crash spacecraft into Dimorphos asteroid in first-of-its-kind, save-the-world experiment.The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test aims to make history on Monday at 7:14 p.m. ET when it slams into Dimorphos, a tiny asteroid moon orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos. The impact, if successful, will slightly change the motion of the asteroid.
What starts as 1 pixel will eventually become an incredibly detailed look at Dimorphos before DART slams into it. "Our last image is probably going to be from about two and a half seconds prior to impact, so the DRACO field of view is actually going to be completely filled with this beautiful image of Dimorphos," said Elena Adams, DART mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
On the CubeSat are two cameras called LUKE and LEIA . Together, they will collect images and help guide LICIACube on its journey.Three minutes after impact, LICIACube will fly by Dimorphos to capture images and video of the impact plume as it sprays up off the asteroid and maybe even spy the crater it could leave behind. The mini satellite will also glimpse Dimorphos' opposite hemisphere, which DART won't get to see before it's obliterated.
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DART asteroid-smashing mission 'on track for an impact' Monday, NASA saysBrett is a science and technology journalist who is curious about emerging concepts in spaceflight and aerospace, alternative launch concepts, anti-satellite technologies, and uncrewed systems. Brett's work has appeared on The War Zone at TheDrive.com, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery, and more. Brett has English degrees from Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his free time, Brett is a working musician, a hobbyist electronics engineer and cosplayer, an avid LEGO fan, and enjoys hiking and camping throughout the Appalachian Mountains with his wife and two children.
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