Tech

LICIACube: All About the Photographer of NASA’s Dart Mission

September 28, 2022
Bharat Times

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, has crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to divert the celestial body of its trajectory and avoid hitting Earth. Since nasa dart mission The successful conclusion, much has been said – and for all the right reasons – on how this effort may represent a significant first step toward building a workable planetary defense system against rogue asteroids.

While most of the attention is going to the spacecraft called the Dart Impactor, not much attention is being paid to the NASA CubeSat satellite LICIACube, which photographed the accident.

What is LICIACube?

LICIACube, also known as the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids, was launched from Earth Dart impact factor. The CubeSat was given the important task of taking pictures before the collision and then flying away and taking pictures of the debris left behind.

Three minutes after impact, the CubeSat was able to take and send images. To accomplish this task, the spacecraft ejected the CubeSat a few minutes before impact.

Role of LICIACube

The two cameras on the CubeSat are capable of sweeping images to provide NASA with essential information regarding the accident.

The cameras are designed to take an image every six seconds until impact. And later, during its flyby of the asteroid, LICIACube was tasked with taking three high-resolution images focusing on the asteroid, the impact, and the debris left behind.

Interestingly, during its flyby, LICIACube was also assigned to visit and take pictures on the other side of the asteroid, which the NASA Dart Impactor had never been able to see.

If it has enough propellant left, it could do another flyby of the asteroid after spending a few weeks sending this data to Earth.

Most importantly, the data this CubeSat sends back to NASA will go a long way in indicating whether the Dart mission was a success beyond impact.

Images sent back by LICIACube

first image

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Image captured by the Italian Space Agency’s LICIACube minutes after the intentional collision of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission with its target asteroid, Dimorphos, (ASI/NASA)

second image

Image captured by the Italian Space Agency's LICIACube minutes after the intentional collision of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission with its target asteroid, Dimorphos,

see full image

Image captured by the Italian Space Agency’s LICIACube minutes after the intentional collision of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission with its target asteroid, Dimorphos, (ASI/NASA)

third image

Image taken by the Italian Space Agency's LICIACube minutes after the intentional collision of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission with its target asteroid, Dimorphos

see full image

Image taken by the Italian Space Agency’s LICIACube minutes after the intentional collision of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission with its target asteroid, Dimorphos (ASI/NASA)

Payload on LICIACube

The CubeSat was equipped with two cameras, an X-band communication system and an advanced onboard computer.

One of the two cameras has a monochrome sensor and a 2.06-degree field of view (FOV). Its name is LEIA (LICIACube Explorer Imaging for Asteroids).

The second camera, the LUKE (LICIACube Unit Key Explorer), has an RGB Bayer infrared filter and a wide-angle 5° FoV imager.

(with inputs from agencies)

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