Joined: 6 Feb 2005 Age: 42 Gender: Male Posts: 22,218 Location: The 27th Path of Peh.
05 Dec 2021, 12:53 pm
I found this really interesting. We have a near-earth asteroid, Didymos (780 meter diam), that has a small moon, Dimorphos (170 meter diam).
The satellite we sent up on a SpaceX rocket a little over a week ago has two satellites, one 500kg called Dart and another small Italian probe that it will be carrying, LICIACube. The plan is for Dart to make a direct impact at 6.6 km per second into Dimorphos. The idea is that this will elongate Dimorphos's orbit and shift the trajectory of the binary system by 0.4mm. LICIACube will be deployed ten days before impact and will act as a spectator for Dart's impact on Dimorphos.
_________________ "The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privelege of owning yourself" - Rudyard Kipling
05 Dec 2021, 12:53 pm
