Momentum transfer from the DART mission kinetic impact on asteroid Dimorphos.

ABSTRACT: The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission performed a kinetic impact on asteroid Dimorphos, the satellite of the binary asteroid (65803) Didymos, at 23:14 UTC on 26 September 2022 as a planetary defence test¹. DART was the first hypervelocity impact experiment on an asteroid at size and velocity scales relevant to planetary defence, intended to validate kinetic impact as a means of asteroid deflection. Here we report a determination of the momentum transferred to an asteroid by kinetic impact. On the basis of the change in the binary orbit period², we find an instantaneous reduction in Dimorphos's along-track orbital velocity component of 2.70 ± 0.10 mm s^-1, indicating enhanced momentum transfer due to recoil from ejecta streams produced by t

SUBMITTER: Cheng AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10115652 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature