NASA DART Spacecraft Crashed In Asteroid Dimorphos Resulting Into 37 Boulders Ejected Amid First Ever Planetary Defense Test Mission

(Photo : Unsplash / Aldebaran S)

There have been many space missions launched ever since the invention of rockets with humans trying to explore what's beyond the atmosphere. Aside from exploration, there are also many experiments tested out, including the world's first-ever planetary defense test mission.

DART Spacecraft Crash

According to The Register, the DART spacecraft, on its first planetary defense test mission, crashed into an asteroid called Dimorphos, which resulted in 37 boulders being ejected. The sight was captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which saw how the mission played out.

In September, scientists tested out a mission that saw the 610kg probe directly hit the space rock. The main goal of this mission was to see if they could get the rock out of its original orbit by hitting it in order to change its overall trajectory.

The Register reports that scientists considered this mission as a success, as they confirmed that kinetic energy from the impact resulted in the change of trajectory for the Dimorphos. Scientists said that Dimorphos headed closer to its parent asteroid, as orbiting time for the large rock was cut by 33 minutes.

Collision Results

David Jewitt, a University of California, Los Angeles, planetary scientist, gave his thoughts on the collision. Jewitt tracks the changes post-collision of the Dimorphos-Didymos system and said that the images showed the "faintest things" one could imagine regarding Earth's solar system.

NASA reports that the planetary scientist said that the observation was better than expected and that they spotted a cloud of boulders pushing away mass and energy from the impact target. Jewitt also confirmed that in terms of sizes, numbers, and shapes, the boulders were consistent with the ones knocked off Dimorphos surface upon impact.

The findings show what would happen when an asteroid is hit and Jewitt said that after impact, they could see up to large material exiting the surface. Upon estimating, the planetary scientist says that up to 2% has been knicked off the boulder.

Space Mission Continuation

The next step of the test mission is for astronomers to wait for a little while until the Hera probe, from the European Space Agency, is sent into space in 2024. The probe is tasked with looking closely at the changes in the double asteroid system which were hit by DART.

When Hera reaches the site in 2026, Jewitt believes that the boulders would most likely have disappeared. DART allowed scientists to be able to move asteroids into space, with the test scenario being the Dimorphos-Didymos system.

Nature reports that DART, otherwise known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, was a form of planetary defense to test technological readiness when it comes to the deflection of an asteroid. The mission was originally launched in November 2021.