![]() “Dimorphos, which means ‘two forms,’ reflects the status of this object as the first celestial body to have the ‘form’ of its orbit significantly changed by humanity - in this case, by the DART impact,” said Tsiganis. Kleomenis Tsiganis, a planetary scientist at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a member of the DART team, suggested the name. ![]() Last week, the International Astronomical Union officially named the moon Dimorphos. At the time, the moon was known as Didymos b. In Greek, Didymos means “twin,” which was used to describe how the larger asteroid, which is nearly half a mile across, is orbited by a smaller moon that is 525 feet in diameter. Two decades ago, a binary system involving a near-Earth asteroid was found to have a moon orbiting it, dubbed Didymos. Near-Earth objects are asteroids and comets whose orbits place them within 30 million miles of Earth. This will be the agency’s first full-scale demonstration of this type of technology on behalf of planetary defense.ĭimorphos received its name last week, just in time for a reflection on the importance of understanding the threat of near-Earth asteroids. ![]() In two years, NASA will demonstrate its asteroid deflection technology on the newly named Dimorphos, a moon orbiting the near-Earth asteroid Didymos. PT on November 23 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Īfter launching in November, NASA will test its asteroid deflection technology in September 2022 to see how it impacts the motion of a near-Earth asteroid in space. The DART mission, or NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, will lift off at 10:20 p.m. A spacecraft that will deliberately crash into an asteroid is preparing to launch.
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