asteroid Dimorphos

[ad_1] US space agency had tested its planet defense system in the form of DART that entailed the crashing of a spacecraft at high speed against an asteroid in an attempt to change its course. That was in September 2022. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was to see whether the agency was capable of actually turning away a rogue asteroid that some day in the future may threaten…

[ad_1] Collision with NASA spacecraft altered shape of asteroid Dimorphos. | Photo Credit: Reuters When NASA sent its DART spacecraft to slam into the asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, the U.S. space agency demonstrated that it was possible to change a celestial object’s trajectory, if needed, to protect Earth. It turns out that this collision changed not only the asteroid’s path but its shape as well. The asteroid, which before…