Sci-Fi Program Proves Kinetic Alteration of Moving Bodies in Space Possible With Satellite Intervention
NASA's DART program was successful, as the administration confirmed after weeks of analysis following its Double Asteroid Redirection Test. The program used the asteroid Dimorphos as a case study in the real-world efficacy of a kinetic impact on redirecting the path of a transitory celestial object, sending up the DART satellite on a collision course that saw it swing around the asteroid's larger sibling Didymos before impacting the target. The result? Dimorphos' orbit around the larger asteroid has been shortened by 32 minutes, shortening the 11 hour, 55-minute orbit down to 11 hours 23 minutes (with some wiggle room of 2 minutes either wa
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