Dart Mission Succeeded In Altering Orbit Of Target Asteroid, Claims NASA

<p><strong>New Delhi:</strong> The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Tuesday, claimed that NASA&rsquo;s spacecraft that deliberately crashed into an asteroid in September succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet out of its natural orbit, as reported by the news agency Reuters.</p> <p>&ldquo;The spacecraft that NASA deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet out of its natural orbit -- the first time humanity has altered the motion of a celestial body,&rdquo; NASA's chief announced on Tuesday, Reuters reported.</p> <p>"This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and a watershed moment for humanity," NASA chief Bill Nelson said in announcing the results.</p> <p>The suicide test flight of the DART spacecraft on Sept. 26 achieved its primary objective: changing the direction of an asteroid through sheer kinetic force, according to the findings of telescope observations.</p> <p>The DART mission also marked the world's first test of a planetary defense system designed to prevent a potential doomsday meteorite collision with Earth.</p> <p>The celestial target of the DART flight was an egg-shaped asteroid named Dimorphos as reported by Reuters. The asteroid was roughly the size of a football stadium. It was orbiting a parent asteroid about five times bigger called Didymos once every 11 hours, 55 minutes.</p> <p>The aim was to fly the DART impactor vehicle - no bigger than a vending machine - directly into Dimorphos at about 14,000 miles per hour (22,531 kph), creating enough force to shift the moonlet's orbital track closer to its larger companion.</p> <p>A comparison of pre-and post-impact astronomical measurements of the Dimorphos orbit around Didymos showed a 32-minute shortening of its trajectory, proving the exercise as a viable technique to deflect an asteroid from a collision course with Earth if such an asteroid were ever discovered.</p> <p>&ldquo;According to the predictions made by APL scientists, the DART impact would shorten the orbital path of Dimorphos by at least 10 minutes. They would have considered a change as little as 73 seconds a success,&rdquo; the scientists said.</p> <p>&ldquo;Neither of the two asteroids involved in the test nor DART, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, posed any threat to Earth,&rdquo; NASA scientists said.</p> <p><em><strong>(With Inputs From Reuters)&nbsp;</strong></em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

source https://news.abplive.com/news/world/dart-mission-succeeded-in-altering-orbit-of-target-asteroid-claims-nasa-1557724