The asteroids that impact the Earth that generate shockwaves capable of destroying everything on the surface have inspired many science fiction films. Yet the remote possibility that one of our favorite movie stories can really materialize does not make scientists and researchers from all over the world sleep peacefully. With the paradigm, prevention is better than cure, apparently we are gearing up to be able to avoid such an event. The project is called Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and is the first in-flight demonstration for planetary defense against possible asteroid impacts. The goal is to shoot a body the size of an entire spaceship at the threatening asteroid. The test is used to understand how much one is able to deflect a celestial body moving in space. The test will be done on Didymus which is a pair of asteroids orbiting each other and which are close enough to the Earth to be observed.
"DART is the first test of how we might be able to deflect something without having to resort to a nuclear device " he said Andy Rivkin, planetary astronomer at the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University and head of the DART investigation team.
When the spaceship crashes on Dimorphos we will leave a small satellite of theItalian Space Agency who will have the task of observing the impact very closely.
Trying to divert the asteroid's trajectory, unlike the nuclear bomb which creates a myriad of debris is a safer strategy because it does not cause collateral damage and allows you to divert the trajectory. Even if in a partial way, this deviation will become significant over time by substantially modifying the orbit of the interstellar body. The real challenge, however, is to intercept the celestial body long before it can pose a danger to our Planet, therefore at a considerable distance.