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Mr. Sparkle

(2,954 posts)
Tue Oct 11, 2022, 02:39 PM Oct 2022

The DART mission successfully changed the motion of an asteroid

Source: CNN

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully changed the trajectory of the asteroid Dimorphos when the NASA spacecraft intentionally slammed into the space rock on September 26, according to the agency. The DART mission, a full-scale demonstration of deflection technology, was the world’s first conducted on behalf of planetary defense.

Prior to impact, it took Dimorphos 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit its larger parent asteroid Didymos. Astronomers used ground-based telescopes to measure how Dimorphos’ orbit changed after impact. Now, it takes Dimorphos 11 hours and 23 minutes to circle Didymos. The DART spacecraft changed its orbit by 32 minutes. Initially, astronomers expected DART to be a success if it shortened the trajectory by 10 minutes.

It’s “a watershed moment for planetary defense and humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. Neither Dimorphos nor Didymos pose a threat to Earth, but the double-asteroid system was a perfect target to test deflection technology, according to the DART team. “For the first time ever, humanity has changed the orbit of a planetary object,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA.

Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/11/world/nasa-dart-success-update-scn/index.html

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The DART mission successfully changed the motion of an asteroid (Original Post) Mr. Sparkle Oct 2022 OP
Wow. Thats just amazing from start to finish. nt oldsoftie Oct 2022 #1
A refrigerator hits a football stadium at 7 million miles COL Mustard Oct 2022 #22
Good news! nt Wounded Bear Oct 2022 #2
This is awesome news. /nt spudspud Oct 2022 #3
KnR for science! nt intrepidity Oct 2022 #4
Celestial billiards. WheelWalker Oct 2022 #5
DANG! Out-Freakin'-STANDING! calimary Oct 2022 #21
Wish there were a DART to deflect putin from Ukraine Marthe48 Oct 2022 #6
Putin is a threat to Earth housecat Oct 2022 #10
Can we use the Jewish space lasers on him? COL Mustard Oct 2022 #23
Who is trained to use them? Wouldn't want to miss housecat Oct 2022 #26
This is, of course, an amazing scientific feat. WinstonSmith4740 Oct 2022 #7
+100 - SmartNAV !!!! nt reACTIONary Oct 2022 #15
My mind is sufficiently boggled housecat Oct 2022 #27
It is projected to break its orbit and impact Earth in 37 years. docgee Oct 2022 #8
Great job. I hope now they can take this success and apply it to the next incoming asteroid. ancianita Oct 2022 #9
or incoming Russian nuke housecat Oct 2022 #11
heh heh not the same. This was NASA. ancianita Oct 2022 #12
Not thinking at all, just dreaming housecat Oct 2022 #13
MDA.... reACTIONary Oct 2022 #16
Awesome. We don't have to send Bruce Willis and a big nuke now. OverBurn Oct 2022 #14
Oh great! They just took all the excitement from any Astroid hitting Earth disaster movies. LiberalLovinLug Oct 2022 #17
👍🏼👍🏼 IrishAfricanAmerican Oct 2022 #18
Wow! Amazing! liberalla Oct 2022 #19
You know what happens next don't you? KS Toronado Oct 2022 #20
I sincerely hope the Law of Unintended Consequences Rural_Progressive Oct 2022 #24
Wow! Excellent start! electric_blue68 Oct 2022 #25

COL Mustard

(5,969 posts)
22. A refrigerator hits a football stadium at 7 million miles
Tue Oct 11, 2022, 05:33 PM
Oct 2022

And I can’t even get my kids to hit the toilet!


🤣

calimary

(81,599 posts)
21. DANG! Out-Freakin'-STANDING!
Tue Oct 11, 2022, 05:32 PM
Oct 2022

Celestial billiards!

That's EXACTLY what it is! I LOVE this, WheelWalker! Perfect way to describe it!

Marthe48

(17,122 posts)
6. Wish there were a DART to deflect putin from Ukraine
Tue Oct 11, 2022, 03:23 PM
Oct 2022

seriously, scientists should make sure we are expanding our search for bodies in space that might be a threat to Earth. Forewarned is forearmed.

WinstonSmith4740

(3,060 posts)
7. This is, of course, an amazing scientific feat.
Tue Oct 11, 2022, 04:03 PM
Oct 2022

Absolutely mind boggling. But you know what else it proves? That we are capable of hitting an object less than 600 ft. in diameter, that was moving somewhere around 50K mph, almost 7 million miles away. You hear that Putin, and all the other loony tunes out there? We CAN hit a bullet with a bullet.

KS Toronado

(17,461 posts)
20. You know what happens next don't you?
Tue Oct 11, 2022, 05:32 PM
Oct 2022

Since we're messing with objects outside of Earth, Klaatu and Gort will be visiting Washington D C shortly.

Rural_Progressive

(1,107 posts)
24. I sincerely hope the Law of Unintended Consequences
Tue Oct 11, 2022, 06:42 PM
Oct 2022

isn't as strong in Astrophysics as it is in the Life Sciences.

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