On Monday, Quebecer Julie Bellerose was at the controls of a space probe that deflected an asteroid during a planetary defense test. The Canadian Press spoke with the one who grew up in Sainte-Julie and who dreamed of space while watching Star Wars.
Julie Bellerose shed a tear on Monday evening when the space probe named Dart struck at a speed of more than 22,500 km / h an asteroid nearly 10 million kilometers from Earth.
“I shed a tear, we were relieved to see that everything went well” and “that we achieved our goal, our objective with the mission, so it was extraordinary to see that. Of course there were a lot of emotions, and then, it’s also a source of pride to see that the whole experience really worked well, “said the chief navigation officer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. .
The mission was to strike the asteroid Dimorphos and vary its orbit in order to prepare for when such a rock would actually endanger the Earth.
The US$325 million mission was the first attempt to shift the position of an asteroid or any other natural object in space. The probe was launched in November 2021.
The Quebecer can say “mission accomplished”, which does not mean that the work is finished.
“Now we will have to wait for the results of the measurements of the deviation, of the trajectory”, so “in the next few days, the next few weeks, many telescopes will look at the asteroid Dimorphos”.
The engineer and her team are now seeking to determine “the properties of the material of this asteroid”, because “there are many uncertainties regarding its cohesive force, the material of which it is made”, which will influence “how the asteroid will really deflect”.
There is no immediate danger
This scientific feat might be used to deflect an asteroid that threatens Earth only if the threat is known well in advance.
“If we know that there is an asteroid coming to hit us in the next few years or the next ten years for example”, but “if we realized that an asteroid was coming to hit us, for example in 24 hours, that would be a different context and a different technique”, explained the engineer.
“There are other techniques that are being studied, some that have explosives or even, there are techniques with nuclear” and “I’m sure we would find a way”, if there was an imminent threat , Julie Bellerose told The Canadian Press.
The engineer, however, wants to reassure the Earthlings: “There is no immediate danger. We have nevertheless cataloged millions of asteroids and it is improbable, even if it is not impossible, but that is why we are experimenting”, indicated Ms. Bellerose, specifying “that there is no there is no danger in the next 100 or 150 years”.
From Sainte-Julie to Saturn
Originally from Sainte-Julie, east of Montreal, the engineer loved mathematics, science and problem solving, but also the Star Wars film series, especially the old ones, when she was a child. It was as a teenager that Julie Bellerose began to take an interest in space and the celestial bodies found there.
“When Julie Payette became an astronaut, space seemed a little closer to me.”
Julie Bellerose completed a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at McGill University, a master’s degree in science and engineering at the University of Michigan and a doctorate in aerospace engineering at the same university.
She notably worked in Japan where she supported the navigation of the JAXA Hayabusa 2 mission.
Hayabusa 2 is a space probe developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency which was launched in 2014 and will arrive at the asteroid Ryugu in 2018. The probe is to collect samples and bring them back to Earth for analysis.
She lives in Pasadena, California and since the fall of 2014 she has also been responsible for the trajectory of NASA’s Cassini mission, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.
