Some chunks of rocks dislodged from the DART impact may collide with Mars over 6,000 and 13,000 years from now.
In September of 2022, NASA deliberately smashed a spacecraft into the 560-foot-wide asteroid Dimorphos.
The learnings from this demonstration would prepare NASA and other space agencies to develop techniques that could be implemented if ansuggested that the DART probe expelled more than one million kilograms of debris from the asteroid after the crash. “By using recent observations of the Dydimos−Dimorphos system from the Hubble Space Telescope, 37 boulders with a size of 4 to 7 m ejected from the system during the impact with the DART spacecraft were identified,” the authors mentioned in the study paper. Fortunately, none of the boulders are headed toward the Earth.
“Given the rarefaction of the Martian atmosphere, we expect the boulders to arrive intact on the ground and excavate a small impact crater,” added the study, which is led by Marco Fenucci, a researcher at the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Objects Coordination Center.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Boulders flung from NASA's DART mission could crash into Mars, study predictsJoanna Thompson is a science journalist and runner based in New York. She holds a B.S. in Zoology and a B.A. in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University, as well as a Master's in Science Journalism from NYU's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.
Read more »
Redefining Martian Hydrology: Surprising Insights About Debris Flows on MarsScience, Space and Technology News 2024
Read more »
Debris From NASA Smashing Asteroid Could Strike Mars, Scientists FindScience and Technology News and Videos
Read more »
Surprising insights about debris flows on MarsThe period that liquid water was present on the surface of Mars may have been shorter than previously thought. Channel landforms called gullies, previously thought to be formed exclusively by liquid water, can also be formed by the action of evaporating CO2 ice, according to a new study.
Read more »
The Mars Science Helicopter Could be an Airborne Geologist on MarsSpace and astronomy news
Read more »
The Mars science helicopter could be an airborne geologist on MarsAfter more than 70 successful flights, a broken rotor ended the remarkable and groundbreaking Ingenuity helicopter mission on Mars. Now, NASA is considering how a larger, more capable helicopter could be an airborne geologist on the Red Planet.
Read more »