The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ' s impact probe in November of the past continues to move towards a target, and in a month ' s time it will be closer to a system of two asteroids, Didim and Dimorph, and it will crash into one of them, allowing scientists to test the possibility of changing the course of space objects that are potentially dangerous to the Earth.
According to available data, a 550-kilogram collision with the Dimorph asteroid at about 24,000 km/h will take place on 27 September at 02:14 Moscow time, although the Dimoref does not pose a threat to our planet, scientists want to try to alter the trajectory of its flight in order to take a similar approach in the event that a similar object is ever discovered moving to Earth.
In the system of two asteroids, Didim is large. By comparison, the asteroid that flew over Chelyabinsk in 2013 had a diameter of 18 metres. The choice of scientists fell on the system of two asteroids by no accident. The fact is that they rotate around each other and are convenient to observe using ground telescopes. This will enable scientists to quickly understand whether the trajectory of the space object has changed since it struck the probe.
Curiously, anyone who wants to watch the DART mission online on the NASA website and on the agency's social media pages will start on September 27, 01:00, Moscow time. The audience shouldn't expect to see it broadcast from the probe, although its design includes a camera and optical navigation system. The machine also carries the Italian Space Agency Light Italian CubeSat miniatur satellite, which will be separated from the probe shortly before the impact and used to record the impact.