By Mika Hughes
On September 26, 2022, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully impacted Dimorphos, an asteroid that orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos. Although Dimorphos is not a threat to Earth and is merely a test subject for NASA, this is the first time anyone has deliberately changed an asteroid’s orbit, shortening it by 32 minutes.
DART began on November 24, 2021 in hopes of finding a method to change an asteroid’s trajectory if necessary. NASA scientists wanted to observe the effects of a high speed object’s impact into an asteroid to see how the asteroid’s path would be altered. Dimorphos and Didymos were chosen as targets because they are relatively close to Earth.
The Hubble Space Telescope also captured an image of a trail of debris that splits in two created after DART’s impact, resembling a comet tail. Researchers are still attempting to determine the reasoning behind the split.
NASA would have considered the mission a success if it had slowed the asteroid’s impact by 10 or 15 minutes. Instead, they observed over a 30 minute difference, which they had not expected. This seems promising to DART’s future and is a great start to the experiment.
NASA hopes to use the same technique to potentially divert a hazardous celestial body in the future, one that could pose a serious threat to Earth. As more tests are executed, scientists will continue to learn about the effects DART has on different types of astronomical objects.
