Ever had that moment when you throw a rock into a pond and observe the ripples moving away from the spot? Now, imagine something similar happening, but on a much bigger scale -- in space. That's what happened when NASA's DART spacecraft made history by altering the path of a gigantic space rock hurling through the cosmos.
DART mission and human-made meteors
In 2022, DART made more than just ripples, it made waves of debris in space. It strategically collided with the Dimorphos asteroid, causing a ripple effect that shifted its orbit around its larger sibling, the Didymos asteroid.
The interaction didn't just stop there. The impact kicked up an astronomical dust storm, a cloud of debris that may soon become a tad bit personal for us Earthlings and our rusty neighbor, Mars.
The most recent models suggest that some of the smaller meteoroids from this debris might make their way to both Earth and Mars.
Not to worry, though. The debris shower won't be disastrous, but rather a sight to behold, quite safely from our terrains.
Planetary defense collaboration
With a diameter of about 160 meters, the small moon Dimorphos orbits the larger body Didymos in what is known as a binary asteroid system.
The DART spacecraft , or the Double Asteroid Redirect Test, made contact with Dimorphos on September 26, 2022.
The outcome? A significant shortening of Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos by half an hour. It was the first act in an international planetary defense collaboration - a literal game-changer.
Hera will investigate further
Now, who's going to clean up this mess? Enter ESA's Hera spacecraft . Scheduled for launch this October, Hera will reach Dimorphos for a close-up "crash scene investigation," following the DART mission's impact.
"The DART impact offers a rare opportunity to investigate the delivery of ejecta to other celestial bodies, thanks to the fact that we know the impact location and that this impact was observed by the Italian LICIACube deployed from DART as well as by Earth-based observers," said ESA Hera mission scientist and co-author of this exciting development, Michael Kueppers.
Will DART debris reach Earth?
To understand how the debris from the Dimorphos impact might reach us, it's essential to assess its speed.
“Our results indicate the possibility of ejecta reaching the gravitational field of Mars in 13 years for launch velocities around 450 m/s, while faster ejecta launched at 770 m/s could reach its vicinity in just seven years," explained Eloy Peña-Asensio, lead author of the study.
"Particles moving above 1.5 km/s could reach the Earth-Moon system in a similar timescale.”
However, whether the debris would indeed make it to Mars or Earth is subject to several factors. In essence, the location of the debris in the impact plume plays a deciding role.
First "human-made meteor shower"
“In the coming decades, meteor observation campaigns will be crucial in determining whether fragments of Dimorphos, resulting from the DART impact, will reach our planet. If this happens, we will witness the first human-made meteor shower,” noted Peña-Asensio.
As for the consequential meteoroids, the largest ones would likely be about the size of a softball. These larger particles would burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. However, they might manage to slip through the thinner Martian atmosphere.
However, it's the smaller particles that move at higher speeds which stand a chance to reach the Earth's atmosphere. But there's no need to panic. We have plenty of time and resources to track the debris and ensure our safety.
Significance of the DART mission
The significance of the DART impact is not solely about potential meteor showers or altered space debris routes. It's also about the human spirit of curiosity, exploration, and conquering new frontiers .
"Our accurate knowledge of the impact site and impactor properties in terms of size, mass, and velocity plus the observations of the ejecta are what allowed us to estimate the long-term fate of the material leaving the Didymos system," said Michael Kueppers.
Hera, named after the Greek goddess of marriage, is expected to begin its investigation of the asteroid pair in late 2026.
According to ESA, the spacecraft will perform high-resolution mapping of Dimorphos, providing extremely valuable information for future asteroid deflection missions and science.
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