Info graphic which shows what effects the collision of DART could have on the orbit of Didymos B.
Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins APL
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is the world’s first full-scale planetary defense test against potential asteroid impacts on Earth.
Researchers of the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS now show that instead of leaving behind a relatively small crater, the impact of the DART spacecraft on its target could leave the asteroid near unrecognizable.
66 million years ago, a giant asteroid impact on the Earth likely caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Currently no known asteroid poses an immediate threat. But if one day a large asteroid were to be discovered on a collision course with Earth, it might have to be deflected from its trajectory to prevent catastrophic consequences.
Last November, the DART space probe of the US space agency NASA was launched as a first full-scale experiment of such a manoeuvre: Its mission is to collide with an asteroid and to deflect it from its orbit, in order to provide valuable information for the development of such a planetary defense system.
In a new study published in The Planetary Science Journal, researchers of the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS have simulated this impact with a new method. Their results indicate that it may deform its target far more severely than previously thought.
Rubble instead of solid rock
“Contrary to what one might imagine when picturing an asteroid, direct evidence from space missions like the Japanese space agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 probe demonstrate that asteroid can have a very loose internal structure – similar to a pile of rubble – that is held together by gravitational interactions and small cohesive forces”, says study lead-author Sabina Raducan from the Institute of Physics and the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS at the University of Bern.
Yet, previous simulations of the DART mission impact mostly assumed a much more solid interior of its asteroid target Dimorphos. “This could drastically change the outcome the collision of DART and Dimorphos, which is scheduled to take place in the coming September”, Raducan points out. Instead of leaving a relatively small crater on the 160 meter wide asteroid, DART’s impact at a speed of 24’000 km/h could completely deform Dimorphos. The asteroid could also be deflected much more strongly and larger amounts of material could be ejected from the impact than the previous estimates predicted.
A prize winning new approach
“One of the reasons that this scenario of a loose internal structure has so far not been thoroughly studied is that the necessary methods were not available”, study lead-author Sabina Raducan says. “Such impact conditions cannot be recreated in laboratory experiments and the relatively long and complex process of crater formation following such an impact – a matter of hours in the case of DART – made it impossible to realistically simulate these impact processes up to now”, according to the researcher.
“With our novel modelling approach, which takes into account the propagation of the shock waves, the compaction and the subsequent flow of material, we were for the first time able to model the entire cratering process resulting from impacts on small, asteroids like Dimorphos”” Raducan reports. For this achievement, she was awarded by ESA and by the mayor of Nice at a workshop on the DART follow-up mission HERA. For this achievement, Raducan was awarded by ESA and by the mayor of Nice at a workshop on the DART follow-up mission HERA.
Widen horizon of expectations
In 2024, the European Space Agency ESA will send a space probe to Dimorphos as part of the space mission HERA. The aim is to visually investigate the aftermath of the DART probe impact. “To get the most out of the HERA mission, we need to have a good understanding of potential outcomes of the DART impact”, says study co-author Martin Jutzi from the Institute of Physics and the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS. “Our work on the impact simulations adds an important potential scenario that requires us to widen our expectations in this regard. This is not only relevant in the context of planetary defense, but also adds an important piece to the puzzle of our understanding of asteroids in general”, Jutzi concludes.
Original Article: Bernese researchers simulate defense of the earth
More from: University of Bern | NASA
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Planetary defense
- Asteroid Hunters Spot 27,500 Overlooked Space Rocks Careening Around Our Solar System
Detection of the rocks is crucial to the future of 'planetary defense' — a global effort to prevent potential asteroid impacts on earth.
- Google Cloud accelerates asteroid discovery for US-based non-profit
Google Cloud opens up about the work it is doing with a US-based planetary science to help map the solar system ...
- Robot-Explorers, Futuristic SpaceX Starships Set To Transform The Moon
Simultaneous revolutions in creating AI-enhanced space robots and in spaceflight with SpaceX's super-advanced Titan-size Starship capsules, are set to transform the Moon.
- Hera asteroid mission's side-trip to Mars
ESA's Hera asteroid mission for planetary defense will make a swingby of Mars next March, borrowing speed to help reach its target Didymos binary asteroid system.
- 7 unconfirmed, unlucky tales of people killed by meteorites
There isn't a single confirmed case of people killed by meteorites. But that’s not to say we haven’t come close.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Planetary defense
[google_news title=”” keyword=”planetary defense” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
DART space probe
- SabreSat: Redwire’s vehicle to dart through very low Earth orbit
SabreSat benefits from expertise in Redwire’s European arm. The former QinetiQ Space, acquired by Redwire in 2022, is working with Thales Alenia Space on SkimSat, a VLEO platform for Earth-observation ...
- This spacecraft is headed to NASA's asteroid-crash aftermath — but first, it'll stop by Mars
After Hera speeds past Mars, it's onward to Didymos and its now -misshapen companion Dimorphos (thanks to the collision), where the spacecraft will gather information on the asteroid to better ...
- NASA is Developing Future Propulsion Systems and Improving Sustainability with This Pint-Sized Jet Engine
A small jet engine compact enough to fit on a tabletop is helping to make the future of aviation more sustainable.
- Debris From NASA Asteroid Collision May Hit Mars
The DART mission was designed to test how slamming a spacecraft into the side of an asteroid would impact how it travels through space, and therefore if doing so could successfully deflect a space ...
- NASA's DART Mission Accidentally Redirected Space Rocks at Mars
In 2022, the DART spacecraft successfully plunged into a space rock dubbed Dimorphos. The test showed that it is possible to redirect an asteroid, potentially saving Earth from a future cataclysm ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
DART space probe
[google_news title=”” keyword=”DART space probe” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]