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The objective of the mission dart of NASA is to avoid the catastrophic scenario of a meteorite hitting our planet and leading to our extinction. On the night of Monday September 26 to Tuesday September 27, a probe will be sent to crash against an asteroid in order to deviate its trajectory.
“Let’s imagine: we are in 2030. An asteroid 150 meters in diameter has just been detected as it rushes towards our planet. Millions of people must be evacuated urgently. On D-Day, the impact devastates a large area like Belgium. The energy released is equivalent to 5,000 times that of the Hiroshima bomb.explains journalist Nicolas Chateauneuf.
This scenario is classic fiction. Yet to date, scientists have counted 28,000 asteroids that could one day cross paths with Earth. There are still several thousand to be identified. “In the event of a proven threat, it is therefore necessary to know if it is possible to deviate from it. For this, NASA launched the Dart probe last November. In a few hours, it will join a couple of asteroids, Dimorphos and Didymos, which revolve around it”explains the journalist. On the night of Monday September 26 to Tuesday September 27, the probe will aim Dimorphos to alter the asteroid’s orbit.