Last year, NASA in the United States sent the spacecraft DART. He went to collide with the small asteroid Demorphus in order to deflect the ship from Demorphos’ path. It is a test to protect against planets that have a chance of colliding with Earth This is the first time that humans have changed the natural movement of celestial bodies.
Recently, scientists from the University of Arizona in the United States of America reported that in about 5 years from now there will be a rectangular asteroid, Apophis, somewhat similar to a bean. Filled with rocks and believed to be mostly silicates, iron and nickel, it is about 340 meters in diameter, and will pass Earth in a radius of 31,860 kilometers on April 13, 2029. We will be able to see it with the naked eye for 2-3 hours, although Apophis is much larger than Dimorphos. But it is small compared to the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago, eliminating the dinosaurs. But even this is not large enough to cause a global catastrophe in terms of mass extinction. But Apophis, hurtling towards Earth’s radius at supersonic speeds, can destroy cities or major regions. It has an impact on the ocean and causes a tsunami.
NASA is looking for a way to respond by expanding the mission of the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft, which recently sent samples from the asteroid Bennu to Earth. Let’s go back and study Apophis. The name was changed to Osiris-Apex. (OSIRIS-APEX) is short for Osiris-Apophis. OSIRIS-APophis Explorer The spacecraft will fly to observe when Apophis passes close to Earth. The images and data will be combined with measurements using ground-based telescopes. To discover how Apophis changed as it moved across the Earth. Osiris Apex will spend about 18 months with Apophis, orbiting around him. The spacecraft will disturb material on the surface of Apophis to reveal what lies beneath the asteroid.
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