![]() ![]() ![]() Scientists wanted to determine if a small spacecraft could deflect a similar piece of space debris heading toward Earth. Neither asteroid posed a risk to Earth, making them perfect for this test case. ![]() So NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory teamed on a test called DART - Double Asteroid Redirection Test.Ī team of scientists and engineers essentially built a small spacecraft designed to collide with a small, nonthreatening asteroid named Dimorphos - it was 160 meters, or 525 feet, in diameter - to see if the impact could slow Dimorphos’ speed around Didymos, a larger asteroid Dimorphos orbits. Reynolds did - and we all owe him a debt of thanks.”Īsteroids and other space debris buzz Earth continuously and could potentially cause devastation if they struck the planet. We're all a little safer for the work Mr. ![]() “We look for people who have helped shape the world in a meaningful and powerful way. It was hard to argue with the idea that Ed Reynolds' work of both shaping the world and protecting it from cosmic calamity shouldn’t earn him a spot on the list. “The TIME 100 list is all about influence, impact, and, in no small measure, excellence,” Jeff Kluger, editor at large at TIME, said. TIME was recognizing the leader of the team, but there were so many people who had such an important contribution.” “We have many, many people on this project, and I was the project manager. “It was a wonderful surprise,” Reynolds said of his reaction to making the prestigious list, which comes out annually. “In September, we’ll refine where DART is aiming by getting a more precise determination of Didymos’ location.When he graduated from Virginia Tech in 1985 with a degree in electrical engineering and applied for a position at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Ed Reynolds never expected to spend the next nearly four decades studying space.Īnd Reynolds certainly never expected to be overseeing a team charged with potentially saving Earth from destructive collisions with asteroids, comets, and other space debris.Ī successful deflection of an asteroid this past fall – the genesis of the United States’ first planetary defense system – led to Reynolds being named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2023 by TIME magazine. “Seeing the DRACO images of Didymos for the first time, we can iron out the best settings for DRACO and fine-tune the software,” said Julie Bellerose, the DART navigation lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This will be particularly important during the final hours before DART impacts Dimorphos. But with the asteroid system now in view, DART will need to rely on DRACO’s ability to see and process images of the double-asteroid. So far, the mission team has relied on navigation simulations based on images taken by the spacecraft’s other instruments. This imaging campaign also tested DRACO’s ability to guide the spacecraft towards Didymos and Dimorphos. The quality of the image is similar to what we could obtain from ground-based telescopes, but it is important to show that DRACO is working properly and can see its target to make any adjustments needed before we begin using the images to guide the spacecraft into the asteroid autonomously.” “This first set of images is being used as a test to prove our imaging techniques. Luckily, the DRACO team enhanced the resolution of the combined image that pinpointed Didymos’ location. At this distance, the navigation camera team was uncertain if DRACO would be able to resolve the asteroid system. The image is a composite of 243 images taken by the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical (Draco) when the spacecraft was about 32 million km (20 million mi) from the asteroid. The image was taken on July 27th and shows Didymos as a distant speck of light against the background stars of space. In July, DART took its first image of the double-asteroid, which NASA released earlier this week! This proposed method of planetary defense consists of a spacecraft colliding with an asteroid to alter its orbit and prevent it from colliding with Earth. When it arrives on September 26 th, DART will collide with Dimorphos – the 160-meter (525-foot) moonlet that orbits the main body – to evaluate the kinetic impact technique for the very first time. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is on its way to rendezvous with the double-asteroid Didymos. ![]()
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