[Epoch Times, September 12, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Linda compiled and reported) On September 26, NASA slammed a spacecraft known as a “battering ram” into a A sizable asteroid to test whether it could be used to thwart a similar civilization-killer asteroid to eliminate its potential harm to Earth.
The binary asteroid system Didymos is a pair of near-Earth rocky objects known as “potentially hazardous”. Now, the spacecraft used in the “Double Small Object Reorientation Test” project (DART) has approached its target.
While the DART spacecraft can use its optical navigation camera to capture images of asteroid systems, it still has a short way to go — 20 million miles to be exact, NASA said.
The DART spacecraft is scheduled to collide on Sept. 26 with the smaller of the binary asteroid system called Dimorphos, a natural small satellite of another slightly larger object, Didymos.
This moment is extremely important because the collision will mark the first time humans have attempted to reverse the direction of an asteroid, thereby creating a new way to avoid a future devastating impact.
“The first set of images was used for testing to demonstrate that the imaging technology was passable,” Elena Adams, DART mission systems engineer, said in a statement.
“The quality of the images is similar to that obtained with ground-based telescopes, but it is important to function properly and to see the target, so that the necessary adjustments can be made before starting to use the image to guide the spacecraft and automatically crash into the asteroid, ‘ Adams added.
Over the next two weeks, DART will make 3 orbit corrections to keep the target locked. During the final four hours, it also autonomously adjusts its orbit to ensure a successful final impact.
If all goes well, it will smash itself into an asteroid in the next step, and will not hesitate to shatter its bones in order to serve humanity. ◇#
Responsible editor: Ye Ziwei