01:05 - Source: CNN Business
'We have impact': DART successfully collides with asteroid Dimorphos

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The Double Asteroid Redirection Test 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.

Astronomers using the NSF's NOIRLab's SOAR telescope in Chile captured the vast plume of dust and debris blasted from the surface of the asteroid Dimorphos by NASA's DART spacecraft when it impacted on 26 September 2022. In this image, the more than 10,000 kilometer long dust trail — the ejecta that has been pushed away by the Sun's radiation pressure, not unlike the tail of a comet — can be seen stretching from the center to the right-hand edge of the field of view.
Astronomers using the NSF's NOIRLab's SOAR telescope in Chile captured the vast plume of dust and debris blasted from the surface of the asteroid Dimorphos by NASA's DART spacecraft when it impacted on 26 September 2022. In this image, the more than 10,000 kilometer long dust trail — the ejecta that has been pushed away by the Sun's radiation pressure, not unlike the tail of a comet — can be seen stretching from the center to the right-hand edge of the field of view.
CTIO/NOIRLab/SOAR/NSF/AURA

Comet-like debris trail spotted after spacecraft crashes into asteroid

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.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of debris blasted away from the surfacce of Dimorphos 285 hours after impact on October 8.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of debris blasted away from the surfacce of Dimorphos 285 hours after impact on October 8.
NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble

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.