The Planetary Science Journal (Jan 2024)
Achievement of the Planetary Defense Investigations of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission
- Nancy L. Chabot,
- Andrew S. Rivkin,
- Andrew F. Cheng,
- Olivier S. Barnouin,
- Eugene G. Fahnestock,
- Derek C. Richardson,
- Angela M. Stickle,
- Cristina A. Thomas,
- Carolyn M. Ernst,
- R. Terik Daly,
- Elisabetta Dotto,
- Angelo Zinzi,
- Steven R. Chesley,
- Nicholas A. Moskovitz,
- Brent W. Barbee,
- Paul Abell,
- Harrison F. Agrusa,
- Michele T. Bannister,
- Joel Beccarelli,
- Dmitriy L. Bekker,
- Megan Bruck Syal,
- Bonnie J. Buratti,
- Michael W. Busch,
- Adriano Campo Bagatin,
- Joseph P. Chatelain,
- Sidney Chocron,
- Gareth S. Collins,
- Luca Conversi,
- Thomas M. Davison,
- Mallory E. DeCoster,
- J. D. Prasanna Deshapriya,
- Siegfried Eggl,
- Raymond C. Espiritu,
- Tony L. Farnham,
- Marin Ferrais,
- Fabio Ferrari,
- Dora Föhring,
- Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz,
- Igor Gai,
- Carmine Giordano,
- David A. Glenar,
- Edward Gomez,
- Dawn M. Graninger,
- Simon F. Green,
- Sarah Greenstreet,
- Pedro H. Hasselmann,
- Isabel Herreros,
- Masatoshi Hirabayashi,
- Marek Husárik,
- Simone Ieva,
- Stavro L. Ivanovski,
- Samuel L. Jackson,
- Emmanuel Jehin,
- Martin Jutzi,
- Ozgur Karatekin,
- Matthew M. Knight,
- Ludmilla Kolokolova,
- Kathryn M. Kumamoto,
- Michael Küppers,
- Fiorangela La Forgia,
- Monica Lazzarin,
- Jian-Yang Li,
- Tim A. Lister,
- Ramin Lolachi,
- Michael P. Lucas,
- Alice Lucchetti,
- Robert Luther,
- Rahil Makadia,
- Elena Mazzotta Epifani,
- Jay McMahon,
- Gianmario Merisio,
- Colby C. Merrill,
- Alex J. Meyer,
- Patrick Michel,
- Marco Micheli,
- Alessandra Migliorini,
- Kate Minker,
- Dario Modenini,
- Fernando Moreno,
- Naomi Murdoch,
- Brian Murphy,
- Shantanu P. Naidu,
- Hari Nair,
- Ryota Nakano,
- Cyrielle Opitom,
- Jens Ormö,
- J. Michael Owen,
- Maurizio Pajola,
- Eric E. Palmer,
- Pasquale Palumbo,
- Paolo Panicucci,
- Laura M. Parro,
- Jason M. Pearl,
- Antti Penttilä,
- Davide Perna,
- Elisabeta Petrescu,
- Petr Pravec,
- Sabina D. Raducan,
- K. T. Ramesh,
- Ryan Ridden-Harper,
- Juan L. Rizos,
- Alessandro Rossi,
- Nathan X. Roth,
- Agata Rożek,
- Benjamin Rozitis,
- Eileen V. Ryan,
- William H. Ryan,
- Paul Sánchez,
- Toni Santana-Ros,
- Daniel J. Scheeres,
- Peter Scheirich,
- Cem Berk Senel,
- Colin Snodgrass,
- Stefania Soldini,
- Damya Souami,
- Thomas S. Statler,
- Rachel Street,
- Timothy J. Stubbs,
- Jessica M. Sunshine,
- Nicole J. Tan,
- Gonzalo Tancredi,
- Calley L. Tinsman,
- Paolo Tortora,
- Filippo Tusberti,
- James D. Walker,
- C. Dany Waller,
- Kai Wünnemann,
- Marco Zannoni,
- Yun Zhang
Affiliations
- Nancy L. Chabot
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Andrew S. Rivkin
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Andrew F. Cheng
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Olivier S. Barnouin
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Eugene G. Fahnestock
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Derek C. Richardson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Angela M. Stickle
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Cristina A. Thomas
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University , Flagstaff, AZ, USA
- Carolyn M. Ernst
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- R. Terik Daly
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Elisabetta Dotto
- ORCiD
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
- Angelo Zinzi
- ORCiD
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana , Via del Politecnico, snc, I-00133, Rome, Italy; ASI—Space Science Data Center , Via del Politecnico, snc, I-00133, Rome, Italy
- Steven R. Chesley
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Nicholas A. Moskovitz
- ORCiD
- Lowell Observatory , Flagstaff, AZ 86004, USA
- Brent W. Barbee
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Paul Abell
- ORCiD
- NASA Johnson Space Center , Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Harrison F. Agrusa
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA; Université Côte d’Azur , Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France
- Michele T. Bannister
- ORCiD
- School of Physical and Chemical Sciences ∣ Te Kura Matū, University of Canterbury , Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
- Joel Beccarelli
- ORCiD
- INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova , Vicolo Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
- Dmitriy L. Bekker
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Megan Bruck Syal
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, CA, USA
- Bonnie J. Buratti
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Michael W. Busch
- ORCiD
- SETI Institute , Mountain View, CA, USA
- Adriano Campo Bagatin
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Fisica Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologias (IUFACyT) , Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
- Joseph P. Chatelain
- ORCiD
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA
- Sidney Chocron
- ORCiD
- Southwest Research Institute , San Antonio, TX 78238, USA
- Gareth S. Collins
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London , London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- Luca Conversi
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency—ESRIN , Via Galileo Galilei, I-00044 Frascati (RM), Italy; ESA PDO NEO Coordination Centre , Via Galileo Galilei, 1, I-00044 Frascati (RM), Italy
- Thomas M. Davison
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London , London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- Mallory E. DeCoster
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- J. D. Prasanna Deshapriya
- ORCiD
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
- Siegfried Eggl
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL, USA
- Raymond C. Espiritu
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Tony L. Farnham
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Marin Ferrais
- ORCiD
- Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida , 12354 Research Parkway, Orlando, FL 32826-0650, USA
- Fabio Ferrari
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Science and Technology , Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Dora Föhring
- ORCiD
- ESA PDO NEO Coordination Centre , Via Galileo Galilei, 1, I-00044 Frascati (RM), Italy
- Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz
- ORCiD
- Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO, USA
- Igor Gai
- ORCiD
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Forlı , Italy
- Carmine Giordano
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Science and Technology , Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- David A. Glenar
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Center for Space Sciences and Technology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
- Edward Gomez
- ORCiD
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA; School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University , Queens Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
- Dawn M. Graninger
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Simon F. Green
- ORCiD
- The Open University , Milton Keynes MK7 6AA UK
- Sarah Greenstreet
- ORCiD
- Rubin Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab , Tucson, AZ 85719, USA; Department of Astronomy and the DIRAC Institute, University of Washington , Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Pedro H. Hasselmann
- ORCiD
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
- Isabel Herreros
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Carretera de Ajalvir km 4, E-28850 Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain
- Masatoshi Hirabayashi
- ORCiD
- Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Auburn University, Aerospace Engineering/Geosciences , Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Marek Husárik
- ORCiD
- Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences , SK-05960 Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia
- Simone Ieva
- ORCiD
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
- Stavro L. Ivanovski
- ORCiD
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste , Trieste, Italy
- Samuel L. Jackson
- ORCiD
- The Open University , Milton Keynes MK7 6AA UK; University of Edinburgh , Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Emmanuel Jehin
- ORCiD
- Space sciences, Technologies & Astrophysics Research (STAR) Institute, University of Liége , B-4000 Liége, Belgium
- Martin Jutzi
- ORCiD
- Space Research and Planetary Sciences, Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern , Switzerland
- Ozgur Karatekin
- ORCiD
- Royal Observatory of Belgium , Brussels, Belgium
- Matthew M. Knight
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, United States Naval Academy , Annapolis, MD, USA
- Ludmilla Kolokolova
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Kathryn M. Kumamoto
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, CA, USA
- Michael Küppers
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) , Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
- Fiorangela La Forgia
- ORCiD
- University of Padova , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio, 3, I-35121 Padova, Italy
- Monica Lazzarin
- ORCiD
- University of Padova , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio, 3, I-35121 Padova, Italy
- Jian-Yang Li
- ORCiD
- Planetary Science Institute , Tucson, AZ, USA
- Tim A. Lister
- ORCiD
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA
- Ramin Lolachi
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Center for Space Sciences and Technology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
- Michael P. Lucas
- ORCiD
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame , Indiana, USA
- Alice Lucchetti
- ORCiD
- INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova , Vicolo Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
- Robert Luther
- ORCiD
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science , Berlin, Germany
- Rahil Makadia
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL, USA
- Elena Mazzotta Epifani
- ORCiD
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
- Jay McMahon
- ORCiD
- Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO, USA
- Gianmario Merisio
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Science and Technology , Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Colby C. Merrill
- ORCiD
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Alex J. Meyer
- ORCiD
- Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO, USA
- Patrick Michel
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur , Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France; University of Tokyo , Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, Tokyo, Japan
- Marco Micheli
- ORCiD
- ESA PDO NEO Coordination Centre , Via Galileo Galilei, 1, I-00044 Frascati (RM), Italy
- Alessandra Migliorini
- ORCiD
- INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziale , Roma, Italy
- Kate Minker
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur , Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France
- Dario Modenini
- ORCiD
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Forlı , Italy
- Fernando Moreno
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía , CSIC, E-18008 Granada, Spain
- Naomi Murdoch
- ORCiD
- Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Université de Toulouse , Toulouse, France
- Brian Murphy
- ORCiD
- University of Edinburgh , Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Shantanu P. Naidu
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Hari Nair
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Ryota Nakano
- ORCiD
- Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Auburn University, Aerospace Engineering/Geosciences , Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Cyrielle Opitom
- ORCiD
- University of Edinburgh , Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Jens Ormö
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Carretera de Ajalvir km 4, E-28850 Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain
- J. Michael Owen
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, CA, USA
- Maurizio Pajola
- ORCiD
- INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova , Vicolo Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
- Eric E. Palmer
- ORCiD
- Planetary Science Institute , Tucson, AZ, USA
- Pasquale Palumbo
- ORCiD
- INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziale , Roma, Italy
- Paolo Panicucci
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Science and Technology , Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Laura M. Parro
- ORCiD
- University Institute of Physics Applied to Sciences and Technologies, Universidad de Alicante , 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain; Universidad Complutense de Madrid , E-28040 Madrid, Spain
- Jason M. Pearl
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, CA, USA
- Antti Penttilä
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 University of Helsinki , Finland
- Davide Perna
- ORCiD
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
- Elisabeta Petrescu
- ORCiD
- ESA PDO NEO Coordination Centre , Via Galileo Galilei, 1, I-00044 Frascati (RM), Italy; Space sciences, Technologies & Astrophysics Research (STAR) Institute, University of Liége , B-4000 Liége, Belgium; Royal Observatory of Belgium , Brussels, Belgium
- Petr Pravec
- ORCiD
- Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences , Fričova 1, CZ-25165 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
- Sabina D. Raducan
- ORCiD
- Space Research and Planetary Sciences, Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern , Switzerland
- K. T. Ramesh
- ORCiD
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD, USA
- Ryan Ridden-Harper
- ORCiD
- School of Physical and Chemical Sciences ∣ Te Kura Matū, University of Canterbury , Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
- Juan L. Rizos
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía , CSIC, E-18008 Granada, Spain
- Alessandro Rossi
- ORCiD
- IFAC-CNR , Sesto Fiorentino, I-50019, Italy
- Nathan X. Roth
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Department of Physics, The Catholic University of America , Washington, DC 20064, USA
- Agata Rożek
- ORCiD
- University of Edinburgh , Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Benjamin Rozitis
- ORCiD
- The Open University , Milton Keynes MK7 6AA UK
- Eileen V. Ryan
- ORCiD
- Magdalena Ridge Observatory, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology , Socorro, NM, USA
- William H. Ryan
- ORCiD
- Magdalena Ridge Observatory, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology , Socorro, NM, USA
- Paul Sánchez
- ORCiD
- Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80303, USA
- Toni Santana-Ros
- ORCiD
- University Institute of Physics Applied to Sciences and Technologies, Universidad de Alicante , 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain; Institut de Ciéncies del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB) , Carrer de Martí i Franqués, 1, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Daniel J. Scheeres
- ORCiD
- Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO, USA
- Peter Scheirich
- ORCiD
- Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences , Fričova 1, CZ-25165 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
- Cem Berk Senel
- ORCiD
- Royal Observatory of Belgium , Brussels, Belgium; Archaeology, Environmental Changes & Geo-chemistry (AMGC), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
- Colin Snodgrass
- ORCiD
- University of Edinburgh , Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Stefania Soldini
- ORCiD
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Liverpool , Brownlow street, Liverpool L69 3GL, UK
- Damya Souami
- ORCiD
- LESIA , Observatoire de Paris—Section Meudon, F-92195 Meudon Cedex, France
- Thomas S. Statler
- ORCiD
- NASA Headquarters , 300 E St., SW, Washington DC 20546, USA
- Rachel Street
- ORCiD
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA
- Timothy J. Stubbs
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Jessica M. Sunshine
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Nicole J. Tan
- ORCiD
- School of Physical and Chemical Sciences ∣ Te Kura Matū, University of Canterbury , Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
- Gonzalo Tancredi
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Astronomía , Facultad de Ciencias, Udelar, Uruguay
- Calley L. Tinsman
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Paolo Tortora
- ORCiD
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Forlı , Italy
- Filippo Tusberti
- ORCiD
- INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova , Vicolo Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
- James D. Walker
- ORCiD
- Southwest Research Institute , San Antonio, TX 78238, USA
- C. Dany Waller
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA ; [email protected]
- Kai Wünnemann
- ORCiD
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science , Berlin, Germany
- Marco Zannoni
- ORCiD
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Forlı , Italy
- Yun Zhang
- ORCiD
- Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad16e6
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 5,
no. 2
p. 49
Abstract
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was the first to demonstrate asteroid deflection, and the mission's Level 1 requirements guided its planetary defense investigations. Here, we summarize DART's achievement of those requirements. On 2022 September 26, the DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the secondary member of the Didymos near-Earth asteroid binary system, demonstrating an autonomously navigated kinetic impact into an asteroid with limited prior knowledge for planetary defense. Months of subsequent Earth-based observations showed that the binary orbital period was changed by –33.24 minutes, with two independent analysis methods each reporting a 1 σ uncertainty of 1.4 s. Dynamical models determined that the momentum enhancement factor, β , resulting from DART's kinetic impact test is between 2.4 and 4.9, depending on the mass of Dimorphos, which remains the largest source of uncertainty. Over five dozen telescopes across the globe and in space, along with the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids, have contributed to DART's investigations. These combined investigations have addressed topics related to the ejecta, dynamics, impact event, and properties of both asteroids in the binary system. A year following DART's successful impact into Dimorphos, the mission has achieved its planetary defense requirements, although work to further understand DART's kinetic impact test and the Didymos system will continue. In particular, ESA's Hera mission is planned to perform extensive measurements in 2027 during its rendezvous with the Didymos–Dimorphos system, building on DART to advance our knowledge and continue the ongoing international collaboration for planetary defense.
Keywords
- Asteroids
- Small Solar System bodies
- Near-Earth objects
- Asteroid satellites
- Planetary science
- Solar system astronomy
