NASA: Asteroid successfully changed orbit after collision with DART probe

NASA has managed to change the orbit of the Dimorphos by colliding the DART probe with the asteroid. The agency had the probe collide with the asteroid to see if an asteroid could change orbit in the future as it approaches Earth.

NASA confirmed on Tuesday that the orbit of the Dimorphos asteroid has changed after the collision with the DART probe. Dimorphos orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos. Before the collision, Dimorphos took 11 hours 55 minutes to complete its orbit around Didymos. After the collision, that is 11 hours and 23 minutes. With this, NASA has well exceeded its own goal of changing the orbit by 73 seconds.

The change has been observed with telescopes. NASA plans to further investigate the exact consequences of the collision between the DART probe and the asteroid in the near future. In any case, these initial results indicate that NASA is capable of altering the course of an alien object in space.

NASA conducted the test in late September. The DART probe then successfully collided with the Dimorphos asteroid. This asteroid poses no threat to Earth, but it was a test to see if a probe could change the course of an alien object.