(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By
A NASA spacecraft intentionally slammed into an asteroid on
Monday in a test to protect Earth in case of an asteroid impact
threat, reports citing .
The agency's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) probe
carried out the first-of-its-kind maneuver on a small space rock
known as Dimorphos, about 11 million km from Earth.
The impact took place at 7:14 p.m. Eastern Day Time (2314 GMT)
Monday, when the spacecraft was travelling at a speed of about
22,400 km per hour.
The DART mission aims to shift an asteroid's orbit through
kinetic impact, in order to test and validate a method to protect
Earth in case of an asteroid impact threat, according to NASA.
As part of NASA's larger planetary defense strategy, DART will
simultaneously test new technologies and provide important data to
enhance modeling and predictive capabilities to better prepare for
an asteroid that might pose a threat to Earth, should one be
discovered, said NASA.
The DART spacecraft was launched on Nov. 24, 2021, and spent 10
months journeying to its asteroid target.
--
Follow us on Twitter
MENAFN28092022000195011045ID1104936410
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.