NASA's DART Impact May Have Changed the Paths of Two Asteroids

  • Publish date: since 19 hour Reading time: 1 min read

NASA's DART Impact May Have Changed

Waiting for the Next Survey, and the Up Close Check

Validating Earth’s Planetary Defense Approach

Confirming a Shared Cosmic Origin Story

Revealing a Loose Rubble Pile Structure

Tracking Light Blinks Through Occultations

Measuring Speed Changes in Microns

Defying the Early Deflection Target

Rocket Like Ejecta Doing Extra Work

Altering the Around the Sun Motion

Shifting the Entire Pair, not Just One

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NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) made history by purposely driving a spacecraft into the moonlet Dimorphos, to see if planetary defense could actually work, like for real. Newer data now suggests the impact was way beyond what they expected, and it didn’t just steer the target, it also bent the orbit of its bigger companion asteroid too. By catching these tiny shifts, scientists have picked up a deeper view into kinetic deflection, and also the make-up of double asteroid systems in general. This whole event kind of proves that people can, if they really need to, nudge the orbital paths of bodies out there in our solar system.
 

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