DART’s Asteroid Deflection Worked, but the Debris Delivered a Surprise Extra Kick
New research suggests NASA’s DART mission changed Dimorphos’ orbit not only through impact, but also through a powerful, uneven spray of ejected boulders. The findings add complexity to how future asteroid-deflection missions may need to be planned and modeled.
NASA’s DART mission proved we can nudge an asteroid—but scientists now say the aftermath was messier, and more informative, than first understood.
- 🛰️ Researchers tracked more than 100 boulders blasted off Dimorphos after the DART impact
- 🪨 Some ejected rocks carried over three times the energy of the spacecraft itself
- 🎱 The debris appears clustered in distinct groups, not scattered randomly
- 🔭 Observations from Italy’s LICIACube helped reveal unexpected ejecta behavior
- 🇪🇺 ESA’s Hera mission is expected to arrive next year for a closer look at the crash site
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