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Humanity's first experiment to change the orbit by deliberately striking a spaceship on a small planet in a certain orbit has been successful.

In the future, if a planet flies toward the Earth, it is possible to prevent a possible collision by changing the orbit of the planet in advance as in the experiment this time.



Reporter Jung Gu-hee gives the details.



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This is a video sent by NASA's spacecraft on the 27th of last month just before it collided with an asteroid.



On the left is the asteroid Didymos, and on the right is the 160-meter impact target asteroid Timophus.



The spacecraft collided with an asteroid at a speed of 22,000 km/h, and a scene of dust erupting after the collision was also captured.



The asteroid Dimorphus, which crashed the spacecraft, is a kind of moon orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos.



It was orbiting Didymos once every 11 hours and 55 minutes, and the spaceship crashed here.



Then, the orbit of the asteroid was slightly reduced, and the time it takes to complete one revolution was shortened to 11 hours and 23 minutes.



For the first time in human history, it changed the orbit of an asteroid in space.



Listen to the head of NASA in charge.



[Bill Nelson/NASA Director: NASA's spacecraft succeeded in changing the orbit of an asteroid.

This experiment will be a turning point for the defense of the Earth and for humanity.]



This means that the asteroid can change its orbit before it hits Earth.



The ability to intercept asteroids was also passed.



However, there was still a need to increase the power.



The asteroid that hit this time is on the small side, about the size of a football field.



The asteroid, which wiped out 75% of life on Earth, including dinosaurs, 66 million years ago is estimated to be 10 km in diameter.



It is analyzed that a stronger impact is needed to change the orbit of the asteroid, which is a threat to Earth.



Based on these experiments, NASA plans to devise a strategy to protect the planet from possible asteroid threats in the future.



(Video coverage: Park Hyun-cheol, video editing: Kim Jun-hee, CG: Lee Jun-ho, screen provided by NASA)