Giant space 'boulders' unleashed by NASA's DART mission aren't behaving as expected, revealing hidden risks of deflecting asteroids

NASA’s DART Mission Deflected an Asteroid – But Unleashed a Swarm of Space Boulders

Astronomers at the University of Maryland found that a surprising burst of rocky debris released during the DART mission carried three times more momentum than the spacecraft. This discovery offers valuable new insights for improving future planetary defense strategies. When NASA’s DART spacecraft struck the asteroid moon Dimorphos in September 2022, it not only achieved [...]

Giant space 'boulders' unleashed by NASA's DART mission aren't behaving as expected, revealing hidden risks of deflecting asteroids

Debris released from the asteroid Dimorphos during NASA's DART mission has a higher momentum and less random distribution than expected, which "changes the physics we need to consider when planning these types of missions," researchers say.

NASA’s DART impactor kicked up unexpected boulder barrage from asteroid

New Delhi: In September 2022, NASA executed the first asteroid deflection test with a kinetic impactor, or ramming the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft into the side of a rubble-pile asteroid called Dimorphos, itself a moonlet in orbit around a larger asteroid, Didymos. The binary system was a perfect target to evaluate the capabilities of humans to defend the planet against asteroid impacts using kinetic impactors. The impact …

Massive Boulders Ejected by DART Mission Could Complicate Future Asteroid Deflection

NASA’s DART mission successfully deflected an asteroid but also unleashed high-velocity boulders with unexpected momentum. These chaotic ejecta may alter asteroid spin and orbit, complicating future deflection strategies. A new study highlights the importance of accounting for such forces in planetary defence. ESA’s Hera mission will further investigate the aftermath when it reaches Dimorphos in 2026.