ESA and NASA partners for asteroid deflection

The European space agency (ESA) has announced its plan to partner with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to stop asteroids hitting Earth.

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NASA will provide the collider, the Double Asteroid Impact Test (DART). It should launch in summer 2021 and will smack into the smaller of the two Didymos asteroids at about 14,764MPH. An Italian cubesat, LICIACube, will study the moment of impact. After that, the ESA will launch a Hera probe in October 2024 to study the target asteroid, including the impact crater, mass and a radar probe (the first ever for an asteroid). Hera will take roughly two years to arrive.

Scientists chose the asteroid pair precisely because it was easy to test. The smaller rock orbits slowly enough that it should be realistic to change its orbit in a noticeable way. That wouldn’t be an option with an asteroid flying solo in a solar orbit, the ESA said.

About the Collision Mission:

The asteroid researchers aim for the smaller body of the double Didymos asteroids between Earth and Mars.

For this purpose, NASA is building the Double Asteroid Impact Test, or Dart spacecraft, which has been scheduled to launch in 2021. DART will reach its target at 6.6 km/s in September 2022.

DART will be accompanied by an Italian-made miniature CubeSat called LICIACube. This will travel alongside to capture the moment of impact.

On the other hand, ESA’s HERA will perform a detailed measurement of the asteroid’s size and the crater shape. By this study, the researchers can figure out whether the technique can be used against a real threat. The mission has been planned to be launched in October 2024.