With the advancement of astronomical tools and equipment, scientists have explored the farther regions of the Solar System as they seek answers about the origin of the Earth. Most space probes are sent to our neighboring planets as well as their moons. Less investigations, however, are being done to near-earth objects such as asteroids.
Challenges in Exploring Asteroids
On September 26, 2022, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, made history when it successfully crashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid called Dimorphos. The mission was originally designed by NASA for testing the effectiveness of the kinetic impactor technique where an asteroid is redirected on a collision course with Earth. Although Dimorphos does not pose threat on our planet, but NASA tried to simulate the possible technique if an asteroid actually heads towards the Earth.
Aside from the momentous collision, another significant contribution of this mission is the collection of images showing the surface of Dimorphos. These images provide insight on the landing procedure on its primary body called Didymos and other similar space rocks.
As a DART follow-up mission, a team of scientists from the European Space Agency conducted the Hera asteroid mission to observe Dimorphos using the CubeSats miniature satellite. They use the DART images in visualizing the process of touchdown.
Planetary scientist Naomi Murdoch explained that astronauts trying to explore Dimorphos on foot will face the big boulders spread across the surface of the asteroid. On average, these boulders are 5 to 7 meters across with the largest ones as big as a house. However, these rocks can be very useful to scientists in studying the origins of the asteroid.
Another challenge that awaits human astronauts attempting to walk on an asteroid is the weak gravity that is not enough to keep their feet on the ground. If an astronaut jumps too fast, they may fail to come down again since they can exceed the local escape velocity. Aside from this, ultra-low gravity can generate ground motion that will trigger an avalanche of rocks. In another planetoid such as asteroid Bennu, an astronaut could sink if they land too hard.
The space exploration itself is disorienting enough, but the astronauts will also need to deal with dizziness caused by the constant shift of the sky above them. It was made worse by the collision of DART against Dimorphos, making it rotate or wobble while orbiting Didymos.
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Where Did the Asteroids Come From?
Asteroids are chunks of rocks mostly found in the asteroid belt, a region of the Solar System between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Their size could be less than 10 meters across or 530 kilometers in diameter.
Asteroids are believed to be leftovers when the Solar System was just starting to form. One theory about their origin is that they probably formed from the protoplanetary disk around the Sun but did not possess enough mass to form into a sphere to be considered a planet. They could have also changed very little since the solar nebula collapse 4.6 billion years ago.
Another theory explaining the origin of asteroids is that the gravity of young Jupiter prevented the formation of planet along the location of the current asteroid belt. Jupiter's gravity caused by small bodies to crash with one another and become chunks of rock that we know today.
Since they are associated with the early formation of our star system, asteroids could hold the key on what the early Solar System was like.
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