According to NASA, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, which purposefully collided with an asteroid, was successful in altering the asteroid’s orbit. NASA released the test’s findings on Tuesday.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) investigative team said in a statement that an analysis of data collected over the previous two weeks showed the spacecraft’s kinetic contact with its target asteroid, Dimorphos, successfully changed the asteroid’s orbit.
In addition, NASA made available a number of radar photos and other satellite-derived photographs to demonstrate how the innocuous asteroid, which is millions of kilometres from Earth, was shifted off its initial orbit.
The asteroid’s orbital period was also lowered by 32 minutes, which was a major accomplishment given that scientists had anticipated the impact would only decrease the orbital path by 10 minutes. It would have been more successful even if there had been a change of 73 seconds.
‘Prior to DART’s impact, it took Dimorphos 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit its larger parent asteroid, Didymos,’ said NASA, adding the impact shortened the ’11 hour and 55-minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes.’
Bill Nelson, the director of NASA, described the entire expedition as a turning point for the planet.
‘This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and a watershed moment for humanity. It felt like a movie plot, but this was not Hollywood.’
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