We now know that we can knock an asteroid off course.
About 2.5 minutes prior to crashing, the DART probe stopped maneuvering to settle down and reduce jitters and smear in its final images, researchers noted inof the five new studies. Throughout this phase, the spacecraft clicked one image every second, including a picture of its impact site, a patch of Dimorphos covering 9,472 square feet — theit sent home 1.8 seconds before plunging between two large boulders on the asteroid as planned.
"Clearly, it looks like a collection of rocks!" Ernst said, adding that she was surprised how ellipsoidal the asteroid looks. If the asteroid turned out to be a relatively loose pile of rocks, however, researchers estimated a much higher orbit change, up to 40 minutes. of blasted-out material provided an extra boost of momentum, which was key to shortening the asteroid's orbital period by 33 minutes, one of the new studies found.
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