NASA's DART mission successfully smashed into asteroid Dimorphos

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft beamed backmost its last moments earlier colliding with the asteroid Dimorphos successful an effort to alteration its orbit, and the collision was captured by telescopes connected Earth

Space 27 September 2022

By Alex Wilkins

NASA has successfully smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid successful the archetypal ever real-world planetary defence mission.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is an effort to alteration the orbit of a harmless asteroid, the 160-metre-wide asteroid Dimorphos, astir its genitor asteroid, Didymos, by flying and crashing a 500-kilogram outer into the smaller asteroid head-on. Lessons learnt from the interaction mightiness 1 time assistance america divert unsafe asteroids from hitting Earth.

The last representation from DART, taken astatine a region of 12 kilometres and 2 seconds earlier impact. The representation shows portion of the asteroid Dimorphos astir 31 metres across

NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

DART’S last moments were recorded and beamed backmost to Earth by an onboard camera, astatine a complaint of 1 representation per second. Its last images showed Dimorphos’ rocky aboveground looming ever person until the provender chopped out. “As acold arsenic we tin tell, our archetypal planetary defence trial was a success,” DART Mission Systems Engineer Elena Adams told a property conference.

The resulting detonation of particulate and debris was captured by respective nonrecreational and amateur telescopes from Earth, including the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) successful Hawaii. Clearer and much elaborate images from a satellite, called LICIACube, that accompanied DART to Dimorphos should look today, on with images from almighty telescopes similar Hubble and James Webb.

Initial calculations suggest that DART finished its 11 cardinal kilometre travel from Earth conscionable 17 metres disconnected its intended people spot. It volition instrumentality weeks oregon months to find retired whether this was inactive capable to alteration the duration of Dimorphos’ orbit by astatine slightest 73 seconds, the minimum fig for the ngo to beryllium deemed a success. DART’s engineers anticipation to execute a alteration successful orbit person to astir 10 minutes.

Alongside the accusation recorded from LICIACube, ground-based and abstraction telescopes, the European Space Agency hopes to motorboat a spacecraft called Hera successful 2024 to grounds the impact’s aftermath successful much detail.

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