Nasa confirmed that the orbit and shape of asteroid Dimorphos changed after the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) mission crashed into it. The crash was a demonstration of kinetic impactor technology and was done intentionally.
The spacecraft slammed into the 170-meter-wide asteroid on September 26, 2022, to show that it could deflect a hazardous asteroid should one ever be on a collision course with Earth.
A new study published in the Planetary Science Journal shows how the impact changed not only the motion of the asteroid but also its shape.
‘When DART made the impact, things got very interesting. Dimorphos’ orbit is no longer circular: Its orbital period the time it takes to complete a single orbit – is now 33 minutes and 15 seconds shorter. And the entire shape of the asteroid has changed, from a relatively symmetrical object to a ‘triaxial ellipsoid’ – something more like an oblong watermelon,” Shantanu Naidu, a navigation engineer at JPL said.
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