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Earth's first mission to a binary asteroid, for planetary defence
Planning for humankind's first mission to a binary asteroid system has entered its next engineering phase. ESA's proposed Hera mission would also be Europe's contribution to an ambitious planetary defence experiment.
Named for the Greek goddess of marriage, Hera would fly to the Didymos pair of Near-Earth asteroids: the 780 m-diameter mountain-sized main body is orbited by a 160 m moon, informally called 'Didymoon', about the same size as the Great Pyramid of Giza.
[...] By the time Hera reaches Didymos, in 2026, Didymoon will have achieved historic significance: the first object in the Solar System to have its orbit shifted by human effort in a measurable way.
A NASA mission called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, is due to collide with it in October 2022. The impact will lead to a change in the duration of Didymoon's orbit around the main body. Ground observatories all around the world will view the collision, but from a minimum distance of 11 million km away.
"Essential information will be missing following the DART impact – which is where Hera comes in," adds Ian. "Hera's close-up survey will give us the mass of Didymoon, the shape of the crater, as well as physical and dynamical properties of Didymoon.
Also at Popular Mechanics.
Previously: NASA to Redirect an Asteroid's Moon With Kinetic Impact
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Thursday June 28 2018, @10:06AM (3 children)
So, there's this pair of dinosaur killer-sized asteroids, and we want to perturb their orbit. What could possibly go wrong?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 28 2018, @10:24AM (2 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65803_Didymos [wikipedia.org]
A little short of a dinosaur killer.
This kind of research is necessary if you want to harness or deflect asteroids in the future.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Thursday June 28 2018, @11:05AM (1 child)
So it's OK if one of these asteroids crashes on Earth. That's a relief!
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Thursday June 28 2018, @11:11AM
Depends on the country it hits.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]