[앵커]
If an asteroid collides with the Earth, there is a high risk of human extinction, so the first human experiment to prevent this has begun.
In September of next year, a spacecraft was successfully launched from the United States to test whether it could change the orbit of an asteroid and defend the Earth.
This is reporter Lee Kwang-yeop.
[기자]
In 2013, a meteorite fell in Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring more than a thousand people.
Pieces from the asteroid drifted through space and landed on Earth.
If an asteroid body collided directly with Earth, it could have the same catastrophe as the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
The first human experiment to save the Earth from these dangerous asteroids has begun.
“3, 2, 1. Falcon 9 rockets and DART spacecraft have been launched.”
The ‘twin asteroid orbital correction experiment’ spacecraft successfully detached from the rocket within minutes of launch and followed the sun’s orbit towards the targeted asteroid.
[나사 TV : 항공우주국이 지구를 방어하기 위해 소행성에 고의로 충돌하는 사상 첫 실험입니다.]
The spacecraft plans to see if it can change the orbital cycle by impacting the near-Earth asteroid ‘Dimorphus’ at the end of September next year at a speed of 6.6 km/s.
Dimorphos is the size of a soccer stadium, and the spaceship is the size of a small car weighing 620 kg.
The spacecraft’s asteroid impact experiment is not done completely with destruction, but rather by pushing it to modify the existing orbit.
If the orbital period changes by more than 73 seconds, it is believed that mankind succeeded in changing the orbit of an asteroid for the first time.
This is YTN Lee Kwang-yeop.
YTN Lee Kwang-yeop (kyuplee@ytn.co.kr)
[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
.
