NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission has successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of kinetic impactor technology by altering the trajectory of an asteroid.
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Exploring data
Four papers, published in the journal Nature, have taken a deeper look at the data obtained from the mission and they have revealed promising results.
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Mission
In September last year, NASA rammed a 600kg DART spacecraft into an asteroid named Dimorphos, which is about the size of the Roman Colosseum.
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Tracking Dimorphos' size
In one particular study, the impact of the mission was reconstructed, and the size and shape of Dimorphos were recorded.
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Reduced speed
Another investigation found that the impact instantly slowed Dimorphos' speed along its orbit by 2.7 millimeters per second.
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Conclusion
The results of the mission reveal "kinetic impactor technology is a viable technique to potentially defend Earth if necessary."