grobi<p>Q: Is it Possible 2024 YR4 Could Impact the Moon?</p><p>A: Asteroid 2024 YR4 has a very small chance of impacting the Moon on Dec. 22, 2032. If the asteroid were to impact the Moon, it would not alter its orbit. </p><p>Q: Is it Possible to Deflect Asteroid 2024 YR4? Could We Use a Spacecraft Similar to DART? </p><p>A: A kinetic impactor spacecraft like NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is one asteroid deflection technique that could be used to address a potentially hazardous asteroid in the future. Each asteroid is unique, and deflection would depend on the asteroid’s size, physical properties, orbit, and discovery warning time. 2024 YR4 poses no significant impact risk to the planet, and thus it is premature to speculate on potential deflection techniques for this asteroid.</p><p>"Let's look at what happened back then:"</p><p>Collision at Asteroid Dimorphos<br>Video Credit: ASI NASA, Johns Hopkins APL, DART, LICIACube, LUKE, IOP</p><p>Explanation: <br>Why was this collision so strange? In 2022, to develop Earth-saving technology, NASA deliberately crashed the DART spacecraft into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos. The hope was that this collision would alter the trajectory of Dimorphos around its parent asteroid Didymos and so demonstrate that similar collisions could, in theory, save the Earth from being hit by (other) hazardous asteroids. But analyses of new results show that the effects of the collision are different than expected -- and we are trying to understand why. Featured here is the time lapse video taken by the ejected LICIACube camera LUKE showing about 250 seconds of the expanding debris field of Dimorphos after the collision, with un-impacted Didymos passing in the foreground. In 2026, Europe's Hera mission will reach the asteroids and release three spacecraft to better study the matter.</p><p><a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250728.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250728.ht</span><span class="invisible">ml</span></a></p><p><a href="https://defcon.social/tags/space" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>space</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/asteroids" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>asteroids</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/astrophotography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>astrophotography</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>photography</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/science" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>science</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/astronomy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>astronomy</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/tech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>tech</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/security" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>security</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/defense" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>defense</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/NASA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NASA</span></a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/ESA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ESA</span></a></p>