After the Jurassic era, it’s only a matter of time before Earth meets a larger asteroid. But unlike dinosaurs, humans have the ability to change the orbit of asteroids. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully slammed into an asteroid called Dimorphos last September. This is the world’s first demonstration of planetary defense technology, testing whether an impact could deflect an asteroid’s orbit. At a recent conference, the researchers disclosed the latest results from DART. Dimorphos is one of a double asteroid system with a diameter of less than 200 meters. Its companion star Didymos is about 800 meters in diameter. Didymos was discovered in the mid-1990s, and it was not until 2003 that scientists noticed a smaller companion star. Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos in 11 hours and 55 minutes shortened to 11 hours and 22 minutes after the impact, a reduction of 33 minutes. The researchers estimate that the impact ejected at least 1 million kilograms of material. The study of this binary star system is far from over. ESA’s Hera mission plans to launch a spacecraft in 2024 to further study the double asteroid system and accurately measure the mass of Dimorphos and the impact crater.
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