DART Forward: Five Papers Shed New Light on Asteroids From World鈥檚 First Planetary Defense Test
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryIn the months that followed NASA鈥檚 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which sent a spacecraft to intentionally collide with an asteroid moonlet, the science team verified that kinetic impact was a viable deflection technique, proving one effective method of preventing future asteroid strikes on Earth.Since then, researchers have continued studying data collected from the successful experiment, focusing specifically on surface features of the binary asteroid system, composed of moonlet Dimorphos and parent asteroid Didymos.