{"id":44353,"date":"2023-04-18T08:52:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T08:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=118046"},"modified":"2023-04-18T09:32:33","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T09:32:33","slug":"dart-impact-mission-shows-we-could-deflect-earth-bound-asteroid","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/dart-impact-mission-shows-we-could-deflect-earth-bound-asteroid\/","title":{"rendered":"DART impact mission shows we could deflect Earth-bound asteroid"},"content":{"rendered":"

The asteroid-deflecting DART mission worked with incredible accuracy. <\/p>

By Lewis Dartnell\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 18 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

A<\/span>lthough no known<\/i> asteroid poses a threat to Earth for at least the next century, the database of near-Earth asteroids is not yet complete for smaller bodies that could still cause devastation on a regional scale.<\/p>\n

Several methods have been proposed to protect Earth from asteroids<\/a> on a collision course, including blowing them up with a nuclear weapon and using a \u2018gravity tractor\u2019, a large spacecraft whose gravity<\/a> pulls the asteroid so it misses our planet.<\/p>\n

The strategy identified as the highest priority to develop and test, however, is kinetic impact.<\/p>\n

In simple terms: fly a spacecraft at high speed into the asteroid so that it is nudged onto a different trajectory.<\/p>\n