Meteor shower

Human intervention into celestial space has achieved another height, where eliminating an Earth-bound asteroid has now resulted in our planet facing a potential risk of experiencing its first manmade meteor shower.

NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)-operated Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a test conducted in September 2022 to collide with an asteroid named Dimorphos, reshaped and redirected its trajectory that was previously projected to be towards Earth.

It successfully collided with the asteroid at an approximate velocity of 24,000 kmph, around 1.1 crore km away from our planet, marking humanity’s first attempt at dealing with potential celestial hazards.

However, this collision has routed innumerable fragments emerging from it towards Mars and Earth.

Some parts of this phenomenon could be rerouted towards Earth and are a potential sight occurring in episodes throughout this coming decade. 

However, NASA has informed us that these fragments don’t pose any risk to life on Earth.

As per the space agency, the success of this test called the ‘kinetic impactor method’ is reflected in the effect it inflicted upon the asteroid. Along with shredding it into pieces, the impact also shifted the asteroid’s shape.