HomeAstronomyNASA's DART asteroid smash flung 2 million pounds of rock into space

NASA’s DART asteroid smash flung 2 million pounds of rock into space

The massive tail created by the collision of a spacecraft and an asteroid earlier this year is unlocking key information about space rocks — and how to manage any such rock that may one day threaten Earth.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission slammed into a small space rock called Dimorphos in late September in preparation for the possibility humans may one day want to deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Within weeks of the impact, the DART team announced that the impact shaved 32 minutes off Dimorphos’ orbit around its larger companion, Didymos — at the high range of the team’s prelaunch estimates. Scientists are now sharing additional findings about the impact during the American Geophysical Union’s annual conference happening this week in Chicago and online

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