NASA’S “DART” MISSION, ASTEROIDS, AND KINETIC IMPACT ...
You might recall that we began this week with a blog on Monday about the Chinese plans for a lunar catapult "cargo launcher", which, as I pointed out, was really a weapons technology that can be used for other "more peaceful" purposes. The principle which I articulated in the blog is worth repeating here, because it forms the core of much of what I've written on this and similar topics: in such cases, one is not dealing with a peaceful technology which can be weaponized, but rather, with a weapon which under certain circumstances be repurposed for peaceful uses. This is important, because in my opinion this is the principle under which space will be (and probably already has been) weaponized. With that in mind, this article was shared by J.Q., and we are particularly grateful that he spotted it and took the time to share it:
NASA’s asteroid-smashing mission has permanently knocked a moon off its orbit
This is a particularly intriguing article is one ponders it from the standpoint of the above principle as an interpretative template. Consider what the article states:
Remember when NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid last year? Well, the aftermath of that cosmic collision just got a whole lot more interesting.
In a groundbreaking study published in the Planetary Science Journal, scientists have uncovered some unexpected results from NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. It turns out that when DART slammed into the asteroid moon Dimorphos in 2022, it didn’t just leave a dent – it completely reshaped the celestial body and potentially set it on a chaotic new path.
First, a quick refresher: DART was NASA’s test run for planetary defense. The idea was to see if we could change the course of an asteroid by hitting it with a spacecraft – kind of like a game of cosmic billiards. The target was Dimorphos, a small asteroid moon orbiting a larger asteroid called Didymos.
Now, here’s where things get interesting. According to Derek Richardson, a professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland and a lead researcher on the DART mission, the impact did more than just nudge Dimorphos off course. It dramatically altered its shape.
One notes that the article casts the whole NASA DART mission in the context of "planetary defense", and that means that kinetic impact itself is, primarily, a weapons technology. But what is intriguing to contemplate in this respect is that the DART mission is implying the emergence of something new: a "celestial impact mechanics" which will be based on the composition and make-up of a target object and how it responds to impacts in specific circumstances (vector of impact, velocity, shape of impacting object and so on), and how all this might influence special types of systems that are tidally locked, and so on. In short, it is no longer feasible to imagine a kinetic impact simply destroying or nudging a target "off course". One might also be able to envision such a science as being the birth of a new kind of celestial materials and systems engineering.
In a sense, all the above amounts to the beginnings, perhaps, of the "second chapter" of ballistics. Just as the nineteenth century - with the improvements of forging technologies, materials and alloy engineering, chemistry, and so on - ushered in the whole field of ballistics and the enormous improvements in artillery weapons, projectiles, aerodynamics, propulsion powders and so on - that scientific development was quickly brought to a high pitch of development. The technologies and therewith the physics have been endlessly tweaked from then until now, but that is the point: the basic principles were quickly established, everything else was tweaking.
What NASA's DART mission seems to have done, in other words, is to suggest that we're on the verge of a similar period in "celestial ballistics," if I may so put it. The questions to be answered - at least from this "ballistics standpoint" - are intriguing, and the article has already indicated some of these. How many of these will be made public in the coming years remains to be seen, but for now rest assured that as the article avers, more missions are being planned, and the phenomenon is going to be studies closely, for in tidally locked systems, it's best to have a thorough understanding of the effects of kinetic bombardment before one actually begins the kinetic bombardment.
See you on the flip side...
(If you enjoyed today's blog, please share with your friends.)
No Comments
Help the Community Grow
Please understand a donation is a gift and does not confer membership or license to audiobooks. To become a paid member, visit member registration.
Another important factor in blasting an object in Space would be to have a thorough understanding of just ‘WHERE’ the effects of any kinetic bombardment will ‘land’ before one actually begins the kinetic bombardment. My suspicion is the target will be somewhere East of the countries in the NATO alliance.
According, to an American general, on a belligerent visit, in Norway, the rambling tumbler must be ready, to morph, from a Scandinavian hamburger into a Nordic football.
https://www.forsvaretsforum.no/danmark-finland-haeren/amerikansk-general-i-norge-vi-ma-vaere-klare-na/391860
As above, so below.
BTW, my philosophy is different, as I use a dehydrator, to dry my rein meat, Finnbiff, to enjoy gourmet treats, while hiking in the mountains.
Popping off the hamster wheel of karma, leaves hasty generals chasing their own tails, while a rambling tumbler follows its own Tao.
Very interesting that a China study strongly backs nuclear strikes to divert asteroids posing a danger to Earth.
https://interestingengineering.com/space/china-study-backs-nuclear-strikes-asteroids
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3275996/nuclear-option-china-study-urges-more-weapons-rd-save-earth-asteroid-strike
So weaponization of Space seems very likely. Nuclear weapons will be located in Space and used in Planetary Defense to divert asteroids.
Very interesting. Also seems to me to suggest as a bit of very high octane speculation, that perhaps Hutchison technologies could be included in these devices, Using it as a way to engineer materials in space, which is only a little bit beyond what you were saying.
The country simple truth is there is no dividing line between defense and offensive weapons there has always been tied together.
Let’s throw a rock at it and see what happens has never been a good first choice when exploring a world full of strange creatures that could turn around and bite back. Why did we think it was okay to just poke the cosmic bear with weaponry for fun ?
Not only is space being weaponized; it’s future is not being evenly distributed.
By that I mean: one future, is the horse& buggy “public” future;
the other future, is the hidden “private” faster-than-light, Ben Rich – taking ET home future.
Although; there will be finer gradations, within each of those public/private futures.
And remember the difference.
The “public” side pays, by socializing the costs.
The “private” side reaps the profits and technologies; derived from the public spending.
One of the biggest surprise is…
that those asteroid elitist scientists, are dumber than Boeing American “educated” engineers.
Engineers that are playing with asteroids,
as if they’re playing craps – with tumbling-dice-asteroids.
American educated elite scientist; are PHD’s in in solar-system crap-shoots.
Remember first the communists; then the terrorists; and somewhere in that timeline..
came the asteroids?
Haven’t we been in this Cosmic War Casino, too many times – already?
So there’s a coming, futuristic eight ball – in the pacific-blue side pocket.
And, it’s being made by the first cue ball break shot?
What could go wrong. Or, is there method to madness.
Public madness – in believing and following these criminally-insane leaders.
Or, private madness – 4profit destruction?
Some say it will be more feasible to colonize the moons and planets with AI robots first because of their hostile environments. Machines don’t need large living spaces, air to breath or massive acreage for food production. Thus mining with machines and AI robots will be cheaper and more effective. Now imagine the damage these backdoored space assets could do once they get built and are turned from being mining tools to asteroid and rock hurling weapons. Of course the fairy tale of AI gaining the ability to become self conscious and doing it on it’s own has already been crafted into the gullibles consciousness so it can be the perfect scape goat.
First, I’d note that the bugs in Starship Troopers had all the celestial mechanics of asteroid redirection and targeting earth worked out. And Doogie Howser didn’t show any interest in that area. But what seems more puzzling than Dimorphos’ new orbital behavior is how does an asteroid get “stretched” from a hamburger shape into a football shape? Is this thing made of celestial Silly Putty? Was Dimorphos targeted because it’s makeup seemed suspicious? I’m not surprised that an impact caused ejecta/debris separation from the asteroid and thus altered Dimorphos’ shape, but to describe the result as “stretched” suggests that Dimorphos was not a solid object, not a rock, but something malleable. Which raises the question, why was Dimorphos targeted in the first place? When it comes to space activities, I’m reminded of Richard Hoagland’s definition of NASA – never a straight answer.
A lot of asteroids are not solid but instead are made up of different sized rocks, dust, and ice that has clumped together. Most objects in space are constantly collecting more space dust, rocks, ice and gases and are slowly growing in mass and size. I laugh at so many theories of our mainstream cosmologists whom think they got everything figured out. Why are there no rocky sized Jupiter planets if everything is slowly growing you might ask? Probably because once rocky masses gain a certain size it becomes more favorable for their heavy elements to fission into lighter gases. Probably some fusion also still occurs just not as much as fission. Likely a lot of heavy elements get fused from lighter elements in Earth sized planets by a yet discovered means instead of massive stars as well as some fission from heavy to lighter. If we don’t become extinct soon by misusing our current tech then they may someday discover their errors, but I doubt it the way things are progressing. If the Messianic Globalists fail with civil war, nuclear war, or biological war to get their desired geopolitcal outcomes and population reduction level then they might be able to achieve it by an AI robot army Trump plans to start building the infrastructure for. If they fail to get we the people to destroy each other despite all their mad scheming and lobbying then their best new option will be to back door the machines to do it. Is Trump really this dense or a willing player? The next pre-planned AI and robotic arms race between all the super powers in another cold war has been speculated about for quite a few years now by a lot of people. And that speculation that we must all do it because the other side is doing it always leads to those back doored monstrosities being turned on their own populations someday.
RAMBLING TUMBLER
Humpty Dumpty, sitting on wall,
encountered a close call,
when egghead
drank mead,
in his study of alcohol.
A second letter from Harry Potter:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/fi/mmhjv2ve99whl1jg50vd9/second-letter-from-harry-potter.pdf?rlkey=aohbta0c0l6i9nq0l8urgf709