China is targeting a small, non-threatening near-Earth asteroid for a daring attempt to smash into it at high speed and knock it off course. China’s asteroid-deflection test could come as early as 2027, in a project similar to NASA’s recent DART mission.
A recent article in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration revealed new details about China’s upcoming planetary defense mission, which will also serve a dual purpose of examining the ancient space rock for clues to its origins.
China first announced plans to launch an asteroid deflection mission in late 2022, targeting asteroid 2019 VL5 with a two-spacecraft launch in 2025. However, according to the new document, China is now targeting a different asteroid, 2015 XF261, with a launch date no earlier than 2027. The mission’s target could change as China refines its launch window.
Asteroid 2015 XF261 is about 30 meters wide and recently passed Earth when it passed within 50 million kilometers of our planet on Tuesday, July 9. The close-to-Earth asteroid passes by the planet twice a year, with its next pass on February 21, 2025.
Of the 31,000 near-Earth asteroids discovered, about 2,300 are considered potentially hazardous by NASA. These are asteroids that come within 30 million miles of our planet. The asteroid chosen for the mission does not currently pose a threat to Earth, but the test is intended to demonstrate a method for deflecting a space rock should one come toward our planet in the future.
China’s upcoming mission will send two spacecraft to orbit the asteroid for a period of three to six months. One of the spacecraft is designated to conduct observations to study its size, shape, composition and orbit, according to The Planetary SocietyIts more violent twin, the impactor spacecraft, will slam into the asteroid in a rapid kinetic energy impact test. The observation spacecraft will monitor the impact and its aftermath for a period of six to 12 months.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because NASA recently conducted a similar mission. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission impacted a small asteroid in September 2022 to deflect it from its orbit. The mission was targeting a small moon called Dimorphos, which was orbiting a larger space rock called Didymos, and it was a success. Before the DART impact, Dimorphos took 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit Didymos, which dropped to 11 hours and 23 minutes after the impact. A follow-up mission will launch in October to study the aftermath of the DART mission. Unlike NASA’s mission, it’s not clear what kind of deviation the Chinese mission will cause to the targeted asteroid, or whether it would affect its distance from Earth.
China wants to get in on the planetary defense action, essentially combining the two missions. By launching the two spacecraft at the same time, China’s asteroid deflection test could potentially provide more insight into how to protect our planet from incoming threats, and learn more about the origins of the solar system by examining the ancient space rocks orbiting the sun.
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