NASA has delayed the launch of its very first planetary defense mission aimed at colliding potentially dangerous asteroids to collide with Earth.
The mission, called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), will send a spacecraft to test the crash in the nearby Earth binary asteroid system called Didymos, in 2022. NASA announced on February 17 that this year’s primary launch window from July 21 to August. 24 is no longer an option. Instead, the space agency is setting up a backup window that will open November 24 and open until February 15, 2022, according to a statement from NASA.
The decision to postpone the launch was taken by the senior leadership of NASA (Science Mission Directorate, SMD) following a risk assessment of the DART project schedule. The postponement of the launch of the mission will not affect the arrival of the spacecraft at its target, which is expected to be for October 2022, NASA officials said.
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The recent risk assessment revealed technical problems with two main components of the spacecraft, including the main instrument, the Didymos reconnaissance and the asteroid camera for optical navigation (DRACO), and the roll-out solar arrays (ROSA). The DRACO footage needs to be amplified to ensure it can withstand the launch, while delaying solar power due to supply chain problems, caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At NASA, mission success and safety are paramount, and after careful risk assessment, it has become clear that DART cannot start feasibly and safely within the primary launch window,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, co-administrator of SMD, said in the statement. “To ensure DART is ready for the mission’s success, NASA has instructed the team to pursue the earliest possible launch opportunity during the secondary launch window to allow more time for DRACO testing and delivery of ROSA, and a safe working environment by providing the COVID-19 pandemic. “
The DART spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA is partnering with SpaceX and the agency’s Launch Services program to identify the earliest possible launch opportunity within this secondary window.
DART is aimed at a binary asteroid system consisting of a larger asteroid called Didymos, which is about 775 meters wide, and a smaller asteroid satellite called Dimorphos, which is 165 meters left. The mission will test a new planetary defense technique, which requires the spacecraft in Dimorphos to strike to change the orbital speed of the asteroid by a kinetic impact. If successful, this technique can be used to deflect asteroids that threaten the Earth.
“While COVID-19 was not the only factor for this delay, it was an important and critical contributing factor to several issues,” NASA officials said in the statement. “Pre-launch test equipment is an important step in all missions to ensure mission success, and project teams build time into the processing schedules to allow for possible delays.”
NASA’s DART mission will also carry a small satellite called Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroid, or LICIACube, built by the Italian space agency to observe the impact on Dimorphos and return the images of the event on Earth. to deliver. The European Space Agency is also planning a follow-up mission to Dimorphos, known as Hera, which will assess the results of the DART mission and study the impact site on the asteroid. The Hera mission is expected to begin in 2023 or 2024 and will arrive at the asteroid two years later.
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