A powerful transmitter in remote Alaska sent long wavelength radio signals into space Tuesday in order to bounce them off an asteroid to learn about its interior.
The asteroid is 500 feet across and is going by Earth at two times the distance between the two planets.
Efforts to defend Earth from larger asteroids could be aided by the results of Tuesday's experiment at the High- Frequency Active Auroral Research Program.
Mark Haynes is the lead investigator on the project and a radar systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. It was the first time an asteroid observation was done at such low frequencies.
He said that this shows the value of HAARP as a future research tool.
The Deep Space Network, NASA's network of large and highly sensitive radio antennas in California, Spain and Australia, and several programs exist to quickly detect and image asteroids, either with optical telescopes or the planetary radar.
Information about an asteroid's interior is not provided by those radar-imaging programs. They use signals of short wavelength, which bounce off the surface and provide high quality images but don't penetrate an object.
There are long wavelength radio signals that can show the inside of objects.
At 2 a.m., HAARP began to transmit long wavelength chirpy signals. They were sent until the end of the experiment.
The University of New Mexico and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory are both involved in the experiment.
It will take several weeks to analyze the data.
It was a test for probing an asteroid larger than 2010 XC15.
The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth in 2029. It will be close to 20,000 miles of Earth, which is less than the number of satellites on the planet.
Apophis, which NASA estimated to be 1,100 feet across, was initially thought to pose a risk to Earth in 2068.
In preparation for this week's experiment, scientists bounced long- wavelength signals off the moon in January and October.
Understanding the makeup of an asteroid's interior can increase the chances of an effective defense. Knowing the distribution of mass within a dangerous asteroid could be used by scientists to target devices.
Jessica Matthews said that amateur scientists from around the world received the outgoing transmission. The reports will give an idea of the conditions of the ionosphere.
She said that the collaboration with JPL would involve the global community of citizen scientists. Over 300 reports have been received from amateur radio and radio astronomy communities around the world who confirmed the HAARP transmission.
The Air Force developed and owned HAARP but transferred the research instruments to UAF in August 2015.
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