We will accelerate finding potentially hazardous asteroids with launch of our next Planetary Defense mission, the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, which will enable a possible DART successor to provide what we need to save the day should we ever need it. Both groundbreaking telescopes were focused for the first time on the same target at the same time. The James Webb Space Telescope with the Hubble Space Telescope were fixated on asteroid Didymos to give us a view into the impact. NASA exceeded expectations on all counts. This mission required incredible preparation and precision to make impact with an asteroid almost 7 million miles away. A small change in its speed or trajectory is all we need to make a significant difference in the path of an asteroid.ĭART’s success provides a significant addition to the essential toolbox NASA and humanity should have to protect Earth from a devastating impact by an asteroid. Now we know we can aim a spacecraft with the speed and precision needed to impact even a small body in space if it ever posed a threat. According to Pew Research survey, 91% of Americans said monitoring asteroids and other objects that could potentially collide with the Earth should be an important priority for NASA. NASA knows Americans believe planetary defense should be a priority for our agency. 'Space is the place': NASA administrator touts Artemis I as key to our future on Mars In other words, this spacecraft’s impact altered Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos by 32 minutes. After DART’s impact, the new time it takes Dimorphos to orbit around Didymos is 11 hours and 23 minutes with an estimate of two minutes uncertainty. How do we know? The Didymos asteroid system has been studied for years, and the orbit of Dimorphos around its larger parent Didymos before DART’s intentional collision was accurately measured to take 11 hours and 55 minutes. On Tuesday, NASA scientists confirmed calculations that this first-of-its-kind mission changed the trajectory of its target asteroid, marking a watershed moment for planetary defense. So why did we do this? To see if we could deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid, should one ever be discovered. To be clear, this asteroid was and is not a threat to Earth. After 10 months flying in space, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) – the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration – successfully moved asteroid Dimorphos’ path in space after hitting it at more than 14,000 miles per hour. On Sept. 26, NASA crashed an uncrewed, refrigerator-size spacecraft into an asteroid. Watch Video: NASA successfully crashes 'DART' into asteroid Dimorphos to test planetary defense
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