The NASA agency in the United States has said that it has succeeded in the 1st attempt to destroy a rock (Asteroid) orbiting around the Earth., which has been talked about by the media lately, is feared to crash land to the Earth, which is a great fear for the scientists of the world. Although the threat posed by this rock has not been officially eliminated, this small test success paves the way for a better strategy to destroy it.
For the first time in history, a spacecraft from Earth crashed into an asteroid to find out ways we can save our planet from extinction in the future.
The spacecraft, called NASA’s Double Asteroid Rendezvous Test (DART), crashed into space 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth tonight (Sept. 26) in what the US space agency claimed It is the first test of planetary defense. The goal: to change the orbit of the space rock – called Dimorphos – around its parent asteroid Didymos enough to prove that humans can deflect a dangerous asteroid if one is headed for Earth.
“As far as we can tell, the first test of the planetary defense was a success,” said Elena Adams, DART operational systems engineer here at the Johns Hopkins University Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), after the successful crash. “I think the peoples of the world should sleep well. Sure, I will.” That’s something the dinosaurs couldn’t do 65 million years ago, when the giant Chicxulub asteroid hit the Yucatan Peninsula and led to extinction.
“The dinosaurs didn’t have a space program to help them, but we do,” said Katherine Calvin, a senior NASA scientist and senior climate advisor. “Thus DART represents an important advance in understanding future threats and how to protect our planet from potential impacts.” she added.
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