NASA DART, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test
Recently, NASA Dart spacecraft is about to collide with the asteroid Dimorphos.
This vehicle was launched in the year 2021. It is a low cost spacecraft. Its weight is about 610 kg.
Dimorphos orbits a large asteroid called ‘Didimos’.
The mission will be the first to test the “kinetic impactor” method of a planetary defense system. This involves altering the trajectory of asteroids that pose a risk of crashing into Earth. The spacecraft is made by colliding.
It will share the image of the double-steroid system through an instrument called the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera (DRACO) for optical navigation.
It also carried a small satellite or CubeSat. Its name is LICIA Cube (Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids). This small vehicle will send pictures after the collision back to Earth.
Source – The Hindu
