Nasa has launched a spacecraft that will intentionally crash into an asteroid to test the Earth’s defence against any future threats.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Launch Complex at 10.20am, Dubai time, on Wednesday, carrying the Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft.
At 10.27am, the payload fairing carrying the spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket. At 11.16am, the spacecraft separated, beginning an 11-month journey to the Didymos asteroid system.
Dart will target a pair of asteroids that orbit close to each other. The binary asteroid system is located 11 million kilometres from Earth.
The spacecraft will smash into a 160-metre-wide “moonlet” Dimorphos between September and October, forcing it and its larger companion, Didymos, to shift slightly off course.
The spacecraft will crash into the asteroids at a speed of 24,000 kph - fast enough to travel from New York to Paris in 15 minutes.
“It’s very rare for an asteroid to impact Earth, but it’s something we want to know very well ahead of time. We’re out there searching the skies and developing a catalogue of asteroids and comets that can come near Earth,” Lindley Johnson, planetary defence officer at Nasa, said.
The asteroids do not pose any threat to Earth, but the mission would help Nasa secure technology that can be used in any future cosmic threats.
Ten days before the impact, the spacecraft will release a CubeSat, a type of miniaturised satellite for space research, that would capture images of the event.
Nancy Chabot, Dart co-ordination lead at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, said they would also use ground telescopes to make observations.
“If there was an asteroid that was a threat to the Earth, you’d want to do this technique many decades in advance, such that you would give this asteroid a small nudge, which would add up to a big change to its future position and then the asteroid and Earth wouldn’t be on a collision course,” she said.
The spacecraft will autonomously crash into the asteroid after tracking it with a special navigation technology Johns Hopkins engineers have built.
Four hours before impact, the technology would be switched on, allowing Dimorphos to appear as a small pixel in the cameras.
Engineers are hoping a live stream of the video would be possible.
Scientists have been tracking near-Earth objects for decades to ensure none are on a collision course with the planet.
About 65 million years ago, an asteroid crashed on Earth and killed 70 per cent of all species, including dinosaurs.
Researchers believe the collision, known as the Chicxulub Impact Event, created devastating tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and wildfires.
In 2013, an asteroid crashed into the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. The asteroid exploded after entering Earth’s atmosphere and released energy equivalent to 500 kilotonnes of TNT.
The incident caused more than 3,600 windows to shatter, injuring more than 1,000 people.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Do not put them in a recycling bin
Take them home with you if there is no litter bin
- No need to bag the mask
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Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
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