DART & HERA, NASA/ESA Asteroid Redirection Missions |
DART & HERA, NASA/ESA Asteroid Redirection Missions |
Nov 24 2021, 07:27 AM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Surprised we didn't already have a thread. DART launched successfully at 0621 UTC today (23 Nov 21). Mission page here, encounter (as in collision) with small satellite of 65803 Didymos in late Sep/early Oct 2022.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Nov 27 2021, 03:02 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2089 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
I recall that Hera (originally called AIM) and DART had their orders reversed, but the lack of funding on the former by ESA for several years (until restoration and renaming to HERA) meant that DART will now be the initial scouting mission. Seems a bit of a reversal (shouldn't one characterize the Didymos system fully with a scientific mission before trying to alter it with a technology demonstration?) But this approach has its advantages; DART's onboard targeting will still allow it to catch Didymos, and there is no need to shelter an expensive scientific craft from a debris plume of unknown size. LICIACube will take plenty of spectacular images, I am sure!
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 4th June 2024 - 07:52 PM |
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