NASA successfully crashes spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos
Success! Last night, NASA’s DART mission accomplished its goal of crashing into the small asteroid Dimorphos, itself a moon of a larger asteroid called Didymos.
As impact approached, cameras on the spacecraft showed the 550-foot asteroid (seen here) in amazing detail.
So why did NASA crash a spacecraft into an asteroid last night? This was all to prepare for if an asteroid, like the one that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, was ever headed for Earth again.
In several weeks, scientists will review the data to see how much the impact has shortened the 12-hour orbit of Dimorphos around Didymos.
Interested in learning more? Catch a show this week in LSC’s Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, the biggest planetarium in America! Click here to see what’s playing and get tickets now.
