Two South African scientists captured the moment NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test made impact with the 160-m minor-planet moon, Dimorphos.
South Africa (28 September 2022) – The South African Astronomical Observatory shared the exciting news that their team was able to observe NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). The test would see the deflection of an asteroid near Earth’s orbit.
This was the first-ever test of planetary defence conducted, and it was a great success! The DART project has been in the making for ten months with the aim of reaching its target on 26 September 2022 at 23:14 UTC, or 1:14 SAST. The asteroid was known as Didymos’ moon or Dimorphos.
Didymos is a potentially hazardous asteroid and near-Earth object. NASA’s DART mission was to target its small 160-m minor-planet moon, Dimorphos. This was the world’s first test of the kinetic impact technique, which used a spacecraft to deflect the asteroid for planetary defence.
“At its core, DART represents an unprecedented success for planetary defense, but it is also a mission of unity with a real benefit for all humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “As NASA studies the cosmos and our home planet, we’re also working to protect that home, and this international collaboration turned science fiction into science fact, demonstrating one way to protect Earth.”
The impact has hopefully shifted the orbit of Didymos, so now studies are being done to predict how much. Researchers expect the impact to shorten Dimorphos’ orbit by about 1%, or roughly 10 minutes; precisely measuring how much the asteroid was deflected is one of the primary purposes of the full-scale test.
“DART’s success provides a significant addition to the essential toolbox we must have to protect Earth from a devastating impact by an asteroid,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer. “This demonstrates we are no longer powerless to prevent this type of natural disaster. Coupled with enhanced capabilities to accelerate finding the remaining hazardous asteroid population by our next Planetary Defense mission, the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, a DART successor could provide what we need to save the day.”
These researchers include South African agencies. The scientists within the Southern Hemisphere have been included in NASA’s project to observe the night sky to spot any potential hazards to Earth. The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), will see new facilities built in South Africa with funding provided by NASA over a 4-year period.
This investment into the space sciences and observatories in South Africa is a massive step towards making the dreams of local scientists a reality.
The DART mission, for example, was an exciting one to be involved in. Nicolas Erasmus (SAAO) and Amanda Sickafoose (Planetary Science Institute) successfully observed DART’s impact with Dimorphos using the Mookodi instrument on the SAAO’s 1-m Lesedi telescope. You can see their observation below.
“Their observations are part of a global campaign to do pre-impact orbital period measurements that are required to accurately determine the orbital period change to Dimorphos as a result of the impact.” – SAAO
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