NASA Asteroid Crash Alters Its Orbit Around Sun

A spacecraft that crashed into an asteroid last year did more than leave a crater. New data confirms the impact changed the space rock's path around the Sun. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was a planetary defense experiment. In September 2022, NASA deliberately flew the DART spacecraft into a small asteroid named Dimorphos. The goal was to see if a "kinetic impactor" could change an asteroid's orbit—a technique that could one day protect Earth from a dangerous asteroid. Scientists have now confirmed the mission was a greater success than predicted. Not only did the crash shorten Dimorphos's orbit around its larger companion asteroid by 33 minutes, but it also sped up the entire pair's journey around the Sun. The impact slowed Dimorphos down, causing it to fall slightly closer to the larger asteroid it orbits. This moved the entire two-asteroid system closer to the Sun and reduced its solar orbit by several minutes. This new finding provides strong evidence that a future asteroid on a collision course with Earth could potentially be deflected. A precisely timed impact from a spacecraft could nudge a threatening asteroid into a safer orbit long before it reaches our planet. Researchers continue to study data from the DART impact to improve their models for future planetary defense missions.