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. 2023 Mar 1;14(1):1003.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35561-2.

Planetary defense with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and prospects

Andrew S Rivkin  1 , Andrew F Cheng  2
Affiliations

Planetary defense with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and prospects

Andrew S Rivkin et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission intentionally impacted the asteroid Dimorphos on September 26, 2022, and this kinetic impact changed Dimorphos’ orbit around its binary companion Didymos. This first planetary defense test explored technological readiness for this method of asteroid deflection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the DART mission.
The impact of the DART spacecraft into Dimorphos was observed by the LICIACube CubeSat and telescopes at the Earth and in space. As a result of the impact, Dimorphos’ orbit period was shortened and the mean distance from Dimorphos to Didymos was reduced. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL, adapted with permission.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. LICIACube image of the Didymos system after the DART impact.
Filaments of ejecta are visible streaming away from the impact on Dimorphos. The contrast has been stretched in a differential manner across the image to make ejecta across the frame appear to be at the same brightness. The contrast is increased with each larger box. Arrows point to Didymos and Dimorphos, with the ejecta coming from the latter object. An estimated scalebar is included, based on the work of Daly et al.. Credit: ASI/NASA/APL, adapted with permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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