ALASKAN EXPERIMENT FIRED TWO-SECOND ‘CHIRPS’ TO A NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID

AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS around the world heard an Alaskan science facility “chirp” an asteroid.

On Twitter, ham radio users published audio and video of a Tuesday experiment from the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, or HAARP. This research facility is a project from the University of Alaska, and is located about a four-hour drive northeast from Anchorage, near a place called Gakona. From this remote place, home to just 169 individuals, HAARP got in touch with an asteroid.

By firing a “chirp” radio signal in two-second intervals, astronomers with HAARP sought to learn about the interior of asteroid 2010 XC15. It’s an Aten-family asteroid, a class of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) that crosses our planet’s orbit but chiefly dwell closer to the Sun. While 2010 XC15 doesn’t pose a risk to Earth, HAARP wanted to learn about this rock’s interior. The information could show how long wavelength radio signals can probe the inside of an asteroid, which can improve models of rocks that could be dangerous. In 2029, with preparations in hand, HAARP will observe a more-concerning asteroid named Apophis.

Read more – Inverse: https://www.inverse.com/science/haarp-asteroid-test