We should be able to see Dimorphos in exquisite detail before DART crashes into it. ET Monday.ĭidymos and Dimorphos will appear as pinpricks of light about an hour before impact, gradually growing larger and more detailed in the frame.ĭimorphos has never been observed before, so scientists can finally take in its shape and the appearance of its surface. You can watch the live stream on NASA’s website, beginning at 6 p.m. This instrument also is a high-resolution camera that aims to capture images of the two asteroids to be streamed back to Earth at a rate of one image per second in what will appear nearly like a video. This imager, which serves as DART’s eyes, will allow the spacecraft to identify the double-asteroid system and distinguish which space object it’s supposed to strike. The spacecraft will share its view of the double-asteroid system through an instrument known as the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation, or DRACO. The nudge will shift Dimorphos slightly and make it more gravitationally bound to Didymos – so the collision won’t change the binary system’s path around the Earth or increase its chances of becoming a threat to our planet. It doesn’t sound like much, but doing so will change the moon’s orbital period. The impact will change Dimorphos’ speed by 1% as it orbits Didymos. The mission team has compared this collision to a golf cart crashing into one of the Great Pyramids – enough energy to leave an impact crater. Instead, DART will try to change the asteroid’s speed and path in space. The spacecraft is about 100 times smaller than Dimorphos, so it won’t obliterate the asteroid. It will set its sights on Dimorphos, accelerate to 13,421 miles per hour (21,600 kilometers per hour) and crash into the moon nearly head-on. Neither Dimorphos nor Didymos is at risk of colliding with Earth – before or after the collision takes place.ĭART is going down in a blaze of glory. Meanwhile, Dimorphos measures 525 feet (160 meters) across, and its name means “two forms.”Īt the time of impact, Didymos and Dimorphos will be relatively close to Earth – within 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers).
which means “twin” in Greek, is roughly 2,560 feet (780 meters) in diameter.
The spacecraft is heading for a double-asteroid system, where a tiny “moon” asteroid, named Dimorphos, orbits a larger asteroid, Didymos.ĭidymos. The spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid system on September 26. It has been traveling to reach its asteroid target since launching in November 2021. The DART spacecraft is about the size of a school bus. Here’s what you need to know about this mission. “We are changing the motion of a natural celestial body in space. “We are moving an asteroid,” said Tom Statler, NASA program scientist for the DART mission. This illustration shows the DART spacecraft heading toward the asteroid Dimorphos.
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