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Hubble Captures Movie of DART Asteroid Impact Debris

Introduction

On March 1, 2023, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a movie of the debris created by the impact of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft on the asteroid Didymos. This event marked the first time that a spacecraft had intentionally collided with an asteroid to test planetary defense capabilities.

What is DART?

DART is a NASA mission designed to test the effectiveness of a kinetic impactor in deflecting an asteroid from its trajectory. The spacecraft was launched in November 2021 and traveled to the asteroid Didymos, which is a binary asteroid system consisting of a larger asteroid and a smaller moonlet.

The Impact

On November 24, 2022, DART successfully impacted the moonlet at a speed of approximately 6 kilometers per second. The impact created a crater on the surface of the moonlet and ejected debris into space.

Hubble's Observations

Hubble captured a movie of the debris created by the impact using its Wide Field Camera 3. The movie shows the debris expanding and spreading out in a cone shape, with the largest fragments traveling the farthest from the impact site.

What Can We Learn?

The observations made by Hubble will help scientists better understand the behavior of asteroid debris and how it interacts with the surrounding environment. This information will be crucial for developing effective strategies for deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids in the future.

Conclusion

The successful impact of DART on the asteroid Didymos and the observations made by Hubble mark an important milestone in planetary defense. By testing new technologies and gathering valuable data, NASA is working to protect our planet from the threat of asteroid impacts.

FAQs

What is the purpose of the DART mission?

The DART mission is designed to test the effectiveness of a kinetic impactor in deflecting an asteroid from its trajectory.

What is the asteroid Didymos?

Didymos is a binary asteroid system consisting of a larger asteroid and a smaller moonlet.

What did Hubble observe?

Hubble captured a movie of the debris created by the impact of the DART spacecraft on the moonlet of Didymos.

Why is this mission important?

By testing new technologies and gathering valuable data, NASA is working to protect our planet from the threat of asteroid impacts.

What can we learn from the observations made by Hubble?

The observations made by Hubble will help scientists better understand the behavior of asteroid debris and how it interacts with the surrounding environment. This information will be crucial for developing effective strategies for deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids in the future.

This abstract is presented as an informational news item only and has not been reviewed by a subject matter professional. This abstract should not be considered medical advice. This abstract might have been generated by an artificial intelligence program. See TOS for details.

Most frequent words in this abstract:
asteroid (6), dart (4), spacecraft (3), test (3)