In 1998, movies like “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” showed us how to save the Earth from a comet or asteroid impact. The DART mission seeks a solution to the danger posed by the impact of an asteroid against our planet, which science fiction has already shown us.
Four systems are in charge of measuring the DART program:
1. A probe was released from the spacecraft ten days earlier equipped with two cameras that recorded the entire process.
2. The spacecraft’s optical guidance system sent images back to Earth until it disintegrated. It took 38 seconds for the images to reach us!
3. The study of the plume generated by the impact will be used to analyze the structure and composition of the asteroid.
4. A network of telescopes has checked the changes in Dimorpho’s orbit.
So far, almost all the asteroids larger than one kilometer in diameter and capable of causing a catastrophe similar to the one that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, are known. Only 40% of the bodies of 140 meters or more, which can annihilate an entire city, have been discovered.
Thanks to the Big Data collected by the probe, the U.S. plans to launch into space in 2026 a telescope with infrared vision that will make a catalog of these asteroids; the success of DART is not so much having deflected the asteroid, but the huge amount of data that has been collected. And just as important as the data is its processing. This will allow great advances in the years to come. Human beings have just taken their first step towards a future planetary protection system.
Nubeprint, thanks to its ability to collect data on the status of all types of printers through a network of probes installed in cell phones, Smart TV, Chromebook, PCs or servers among others, monitors printers and tracks the trajectory of all its consumables, avoiding the ravages of the printer running out of ink, Mission accomplished!
SOURCE: elpais.com/ciencia / lavanguardia.com/cultura / elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud / Nubeprint.com
