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NASA launches spacecraft into asteroid to test Earth’s defenses BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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awthorne-based SpaceX Tuesday evening launched a NASA planetary-defense mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on schedule at 10:21 p.m., beginning NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, mission. The mission, sounding like a Hollywood movie plot, will intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid to determine if such as effort can successfully change the asteroid’s course. The idea is to test the technology to see if it could redirect a future asteroid that might be on a collision course with Earth. “While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40% of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021,” according to NASA’s mission website.
The DART spacecraft will target an asteroid known as Didymos, which is orbiting a larger asteroid known as Dimorphos. According to NASA, Didymos -- actually considered a “moonlet” -- is about 160 meters in size. If all goes according to plan, the DART spacecraft in September 2022 will slam into Didymos at a speed of about 14,700 mph. “The collision will change the speed of the moonlet in its orbit around the main body by a fraction of one percent, but this will change the orbital period of the moonlet by several minutes -- enough to be observed and measured using telescopes on Earth,” according to NASA. Dimorphos and Didymos pose no threat to Earth, and are being targeted solely as a test mission of the redirection technology. The planned impact by the spacecraft will occur an estimated 11 million kilometers, or roughly 6.8 million miles, from Earth.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft sets off to collide with an asteroid in the world’s first full-scale planetary defense test mission. Riding atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, DART took off Wednesday, Nov. 24, from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. | Photo courtesy of NASA/Bill Ingalls
Gunman fatally shot after allegedly killing man in Pasadena BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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gunman was killed during a shootout with police Tuesday after allegedly killing a man and attempting to carjack two women in Pasadena. Officers were called about 2:35 p.m. to the 600 block of Sunnyslope Avenue, near Orange Grove Boulevard, after the suspect allegedly shot the roughly 70-year-old victim, according to Pasadena Police Department Chief John Perez. It was not immediately known what led up to the shooting.
“We have no evidence that this crime was gangrelated or related in any way to other crimes,” Perez said. The suspect allegedly tried to flee from police by jumping into a woman’s car and attempting to carjack her, Perez said. However, the man was unable to steal the car and exchanged gunfire with police before running on Sunnyslope Avenue. The man allegedly attempted to carjack a second woman, but again failed to steal the vehicle and held the woman at gunpoint until he was cornered by police in the
area of East Villa Street and North Sunnyslope Avenue, Perez said. The man exchanged fire with police and was struck by at least one gunshot, though Perez said it was not immediately known if he was struck by an officer’s bullet or if his wound was self-inflicted. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not immediately released, though police said he was in his 20’s The roughly 70-yearold victim was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. His name was not released pending noti-
fication of his relatives. The two women the man allegedly attempted to carjack were evaluated and treated at the scene for unknown injuries. No officers were reported injured. The area of East Villa Street and North Sunnyslope Avenue was closed to traffic as authorities investigated the shooting. Anyone with information on the shooting was asked to call the Pasadena Police Department at 626-744-4241. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
| Photo courtesy of Pasadena Police Department