Scientists all over the world have always been concerned that meteorites can hit the Earth and end life. To deal with this threat, NASA’s spacecraft Dart collided with a meteorite Dimorphos, 6.8 million km from Earth. NASA says a spacecraft collision has changed the orbit of an asteroid in a test to protect Earth from future threats. And the spacecraft has successfully deflected the asteroid which could hit earth in a test.
This meteorite body was orbiting a 525-foot meteor made of rocks named Didymos. The path of the meteors has been changed after the collision of the spacecraft. That’s why it was named Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test (DART).
The Dart mission by NASA that was launched last month to protect the Earth from meteorites coming towards Earth was successful. Under this mission, a spacecraft of the US space agency ‘NASA’ successfully hit an asteroid under test, after which the asteroid was shattered. Photos of this mission were released by James Webb Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronauts were eyeing this mission of NASA. Scientists have tried to find out whether a meteorite coming towards the Earth can be changed by hitting it so that the Earth can be protected.
During this mission, the entire event and its impact were being monitored, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Telescope. Images were taken by Earth-bound telescopes show a giant cloud of dust erupting out of Dimorphos after its collision. Zoomed in images were taken from the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes, it is seen that after this collision, fragments of the asteroid spread over more than thousands of kilometers in space.
Indian scientists say that there is very little chance of an asteroid hitting the Earth in our lifetime. Krisfin Karthik who is a scientist at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, said that ‘we are surrounded by many asteroids and comets that orbit our Sun. Very few of them are dangerous to the earth. Nevertheless, preparing for the future security of the earth is a good step.
