![]() ![]() Dimorphos completes an orbit around Didymos in 11 hours and 55 minutes NASA hopes the collision shortens its orbit by 10 minutes. The agency's goal was not to destroy the asteroid but shift its orbit around Didymos enough that it changes both of their trajectories. "Some things will likely come out in even days, maybe weeks," mission systems engineer Elena Adams told reporters. "But I would say for the quantitative full answer, a couple of months." ![]() Though DART struck Dimorphos as planned, NASA won't know for weeks – possibly months – what happens after the collision. ![]() Kiger Updated: This is the last complete image of asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, taken by the DRACO imager on NASA's DART mission from about 7 miles (12 kilometers) from the asteroid and 2 seconds before impact. The DART team said no adjustments were needed on the mission, and it went "straight down the middle of what our expectations were." NASA's DART Crashes Into an Asteroid, On Purpose By: Patrick J. VISUAL EXPLAINER: Go inside NASA's plan to crash the DART spacecraft into an asteroid "We are showing that planetary defense is a global endeavor, and it is very possible to save our planet." "There was a lot of innovation and creativity that went into this mission, and I believe it's going to teach us how one day to protect our own planet from an incoming asteroid," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. The mission culminates a 10-month-long journey for DART, which cost $325 million. The asteroid orbits a larger one named Didymos, and the two were chosen because they don't pose any threat to Earth. "This was a really hard technology demonstration to hit a small asteroid we've never seen before, and do it in such spectacular fashion," said Nancy Chabot, planetary scientist and mission team leader at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Eastern time, DART is set to crash into a small asteroid at 14,000. The spacecraft had launched its camera and a shoebox-size companion, LICIACube, more than a week ago to photograph the mission, which confirmed the impact. That’s where NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft DART, for short comes in. ![]() The spacecraft hit about 55 feet from the asteroid's center. The 1,260-pound Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, or DART, collided with the estimated 11-billion-pound, 520-foot-long asteroid Dimorphos at 14,000 mph about 7 million miles from Earth. NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid Monday, marking a win for the agency's plan in case a devastating asteroid collision should ever threaten humanity. NASA hopes to catch the collision's juicy details before, during and after impact, so "in its final moments," the Johns Hopkins University overview says, "DART's DRACO camera will help characterize the impact site by providing high-resolution, scientific images of the surface of Dimorphos.Watch Video: NASA successfully crashes 'DART' into asteroid Dimorphos to test planetary defense That offshoot will preserve the kinetic impact's chronicle long after DART turns to rubble.ĭART will perform its duty right up until the end. Ten days before DART smacks into its target, it'll send its CubeSat out. In addition, DART will be armed with a navigational toolkit with state-of-the-art directional coding, including the star tracker, to ensure it hits Dimorphos at exactly the right moment - ding, ding: the 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) checkpoint. The Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation, or DRACO, device is an ultra-high-resolution camera that can measure the size, shape and geologic composition of asteroids in its vicinity.ĭART also has a metal-oxide semiconductor and image processor that'll help the spacecraft determine the precise positioning of Dimorphos and stream information back to Earth in real time by way of an antenna attached to the machine. In a first-of-its-kind maneuver, a NASA spacecraft is set to intentionally smash into an asteroid. The spacecraft's tools may be few, but they're key. By Denise Chow More than 6.5 million miles away from Earth, a cosmic collision is imminent. That's because the brave little craft is going to behave autonomously throughout the mission. While DART's spacecraft payload is hyper-minimal, the team's programming behind the course is highly advanced. Here, one of the solar panel arrays on the satellite's wings is visible. The teeny satellite will deploy 10 days before DART's asteroid impact, providing essential footage of the collision and subsequent plume of materials. DART team engineers lift and inspect the CubeSat. ![]()
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