DiRT
NASA
Asteroids
Did the historic NASA DART crash change the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos?
Just a few hours ago, the historic NASA DART mission came to an exciting and successful conclusion as the designated spacecraft, moving at the speed of 22,500 kilometers per hour, smashed into the asteroid Dimorphos. The mission was being conducted to test the planetary defense capabilities of NASA. While the asteroid itself was not a threat to the Earth, the test mission is supposed to help the space agency in collecting data in real-world conditions to see by what margin can the orbit of an asteroid be shifted if a high-velocity spacecraft crashes into it. But this data may not be fully available in the next few days. So, when can we realistically expect to know whether the spacecraft was able to change the asteroid's orbit or not? Read on to find out.