A recent study suggests that after a NASA mission intentionally hit an asteroid a few years ago, small pieces of space debris may be heading toward Earth and Mars.
Although these fragments could reach Earth in about ten years, they pose no threat to life. However, according to Live Science, these fragments may have caused the first meteor shower caused by human activities.
NASA conducted a mission on September 26, 2022, in which its DART spacecraft intentionally collided with the asteroid Dimorphos at a speed of about 24,000 km per hour. The incident took place 11 million km from Earth. It was the first test of human ability to change the path of asteroids that threaten our planet.
The mission achieved spectacular results. DART significantly altered the path of Dimorphos, reducing the time it took to orbit its companion, Didymos, by about half an hour. It also completely reshaped the asteroid. It showed that using the kinetic impact method could be a useful way to protect Earth from dangerous asteroids.
When researchers observed Dimorphos after the collision, they found that the collision had released a large amount of debris into space.
This debris included several large rocks, which scientists believe could eventually collide with Mars. However, the publication further stated that they do not think any of these large pieces will reach Earth.
In a recent study, scientists focused on smaller fragments of the asteroid Dimorphos. They used NASA’s supercomputer to evaluate data from the European Space Agency’s LICIACube spacecraft, which observed the collision with Dimorphos from the DART mission.
Small pieces
Their simulations showed that many of these smaller fragments were likely to head toward Mars or the Earth-Moon system.
“However, based on initial observations, these fast particles are expected to be too small to produce visible meteors,” Pena-Asensio said. “Nevertheless, ongoing meteor observation campaigns will be crucial in determining whether DART has created a new (and human-made) meteor shower,” astrophysicist Eloy Pena-Asensio told Universe Today.
