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The Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) invites the public and media representatives to watch live, on September 26, the deflection of an asteroid as part of an international space mission, Romania is a part of.
"On September 26, humanity deflects an asteroid. A spacecraft will collide an asteroid in a controlled manner, in the first international effort to deflect an asteroid's trajectory to test humanity's ability to protect itself from asteroids using this method. This step is part of the AIDA (Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment) international mission, with its two components: the American DART component that will impact the asteroid satellite on September 26, 2022 in conditions that do not present any risk to the Earth, and the European HERA component that will observe if we have succeeded or not in deflecting the asteroid, as well as changes in its surface," stated a ROSA press release, told Agerpres.
According to the same source, Romania is one of the actors contributing to the European component of this mission.
"Romanian technology will lead Europe's first planetary defence mission to the asteroid. Components made in our country will be the "eyes" of the Hera mission, without which the mission would not be able to guide itself and maneuver correctly. Basically, everything the mission's satellite will see and the way in which the data are interpreted to guide the mission to the destination will depend on the Romanian technology, which is currently being worked on by specialists from the GMV Romania company. (...) An instrument designed in Romania will measure the deflection of the asteroid. If the planetary defence mission was successful or not is a question that will be answered with the help of an instrument designed at the National Research and Development Institute for Optoelectronics - INOE 2000. Also, the main contractor of the altimeter, Efacec Portugalia, also involved Efacec Romania in the project," ROSA explained.
The team from Romania participates in the management of the acquisition process and respectively the acquisition of all components, electronic or other, necessary for the success of this project.
The brain of the Hera planetary defence mission is tested with equipment produced in Romania. The ATOS Romania team made the equipment with which the data management system is tested, including the mission's on-board computer.
Thus, the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) invites both the general public and media representatives to watch the asteroid impact live, and the event that will take place on September 26 is broadcast online according to the schedule:
5.30 pm EDT (September 27, 12.30 am, local time) live broadcast from NASA's DART probe
6.00 pm EDT (September 27, 1.00 am, local time) live broadcast begins, covering DART impact with asteroid Dimorphos
7.14 pm EDT (September 27, 2.14 am, local time) the time the actual impact is planned
8.00 pm EDT (September 27, 3.00 am, local time) press conference
More information about the event is available at: https://www.rosa.ro/index.php/ro/noutati-rosa/stiri/6774-26-septembrie-omenirea-deviaza-un-asteroid-rolul-romaniei- in-the-first-planetary-defense-mission
