Planetary Defense: Study Finds That NASA’s DART Spacecraft Could Obliterate Asteroids



A dangerous asteroid is moving toward Earth.

Instead of merely creating a small crater, the DART spacecraft's impact with its target may render the asteroid unrecognizable.

Researchers from the University of Bern model planetary defense.

As part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) programme, NASA is conducting the first thorough planetary defense test in history against probable asteroid impacts on Earth. Researchers from the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS have now demonstrated that, rather than leaving behind a relatively small crater, the DART spacecraft's contact with its target might make the asteroid nearly unrecognizably altered.

A significant asteroid crash on Earth is supposed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Currently, no known asteroid poses a direct threat. However, if a sizable asteroid were to be discovered one day traveling directly toward Earth, it could need to be deviated from its course to prevent negative effects.

The first full-scale demonstration of such a move was carried out in November with the launch of the DART space probe, built by NASA in the US. Its objective is to collide with an asteroid and deviate it from its orbit in order to collect crucial information for the development of a planetary defense system.

In a recent research that was published in The Planetary Science Journal, scientists from the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS employed a novel methodology to predict this impact. Their research suggests that it may hurt its target far more severely than previously thought.

According to study lead author Sabina Raducan from the Institute of Physics and the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS at the University of Romania, "contrary to what one might imagine when picturing an asteroid, direct evidence from space missions like the Japanese space agency's (JAXA) Hayabusa2 probe demonstrates that an asteroid can have a very loose internal structure - similar to a pile of rubble - that is held together by gravitational interactions and small cohesive forces."

However, earlier models for the DART mission's impact suggested that the interior of the asteroid target Dimorphos was far more solid.

According to Raducan, "This might significantly alter the outcome of the collision of DART and Dimorphos, which is slated to occur in the next September."

DART's impact at a speed of about 24'000 km/h might entirely distort Dimorphos instead of creating a comparatively tiny crater on the 160-meter diameter asteroid. More material might be blasted from the impact and the asteroid could be deflected considerably more forcefully than expected by the earlier calculations.

According to research lead author Sabina Raducan, "One of the reasons that this scenario of a loose internal structure has not yet been properly investigated is because the requisite technologies were not accessible."

According to the researcher, "Such impact conditions cannot be replicated in laboratory experiments and the relatively slow and intricate crater formation process following such an impact - a few hours in the case of DART - made it impossible to realistically simulate these impact processes up to now."

"We were able to describe the full cratering process resulting from impacts on tiny, asteroids like Dimorphos for the first time using our innovative modeling technique, which takes into consideration the propagation of the shock waves, the compaction, and the following flow of material," Raducan claims. At a workshop on the DART follow-up mission HERA, the mayor of Nice and ESA presented her with a prize in recognition of her accomplishment.

As part of the HERA space project, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch a space probe to Dimorphos in 2024. The objective is to visually examine the impact following of the DART investigation. According to Martin Jutzi, a co-author of the paper from the Institute of Physics and the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS, "to get the most out of the HERA mission, we need to have a clear understanding of probable implications of the DART effect."

"Our work on the impact models adds a significant possible scenario, necessitating a broadening of our expectations in this area. This adds an essential component to our understanding of asteroids in general and is crucial not only in the context of planetary defense, says Jutzi.

By UNIVERSITY OF BERN 

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