Nasa delays launch for DART asteroid impact test
Nasa has chosen a later launch window for testing its first flight demonstration for planetary defence against the threat of asteroid impact.
Dubbed the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the mission aims to shift an asteroid’s orbit through kinetic impact, in September 2022. Basically, impacting a spacecraft into the smaller member of the binary asteroid system Didymos – classed as a near-Earth potential hazard – to change its orbital speed.
Two launch windows were originally considered: a primary one (July 21, 2021 to August 24, 2021) and a secondary one (November 24, 2021 to February 15, 2022). At the request of Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Nasa says, a risk assessment was performed on the DART project schedule to determine their viability.
NASA will delay the launch of a mission which seeks to test and validate a method to protect Earth in case of an asteroid impact threat.The launch of the mission, called Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), has been moved from the primary .
NASA Postpones Rollout Of Defense Mission To Protect Earth From Asteroids techshout.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from techshout.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The space community has ambitious plans but a new administration in the U.S. may tweak the priorities.
NASA has a busy year of upcoming planetary events and missions for 2021. Here’s the list as kept by the NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA), a home page archive of space science mission data:
2021 January -
2021 February 9 - Hope - United Arab Emirates mission reaches Mars and goes into orbit
2021 February - Tianwen 1 - Chinese orbiter, lander, and rover mission reaches Mars
2021 February 18 - Mars 2020 - NASA rover and rotorcraft land in Jezero crater on Mars
2021 February 20 - Parker Solar Probe - NASA solar mission makes fourth Venus flyby
NASA chief unveils incredible plan to land spacecrafts on dangerous impact asteroids
NASA s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, known as DART, will launch in 2021 and the space agency s Planetary Defence Officer is hopeful it will be a viable option for planetary defence
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