To save Earth, a spacecraft will collide with a small
asteroid called Demorphos in September of this year. The idea
is to give it a strong push in order to
avoid a violent collision between it and the earth in the future
NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission will be launched
in November 2021. During the "impact" of Demorphos with Didymos,
the long-range orbit will be changed. Didymos is a companion
asteroid of Demorphos. Nevertheless, the plan may be more violent
than he anticipated.ccording to a new study by researchers
at the University of Bern and the National Center for
Research Competence (NCCR) PlanetS, the test can significantly distort Dimorphos
As the lead author of the study, Sabina Radokan notes,
Demorphos "may have a very loose internal structure - like a
pile of rubble - held together by gravitational interactions and small cohesive forces.".