NASA’s DART asteroid impact mission revealed ages of twin space rock targets (images) | Space

Scientists have used images collected by NASA‘s DART asteroid impact mission to paint a more detailed picture of its asteroid targets Didymos and Dimorphos. The research could help better understand the formation and evolution of binary asteroids such as these.

DART, which stands for “Double Asteroid Redirection Test,” only impacted the smaller body in this double-asteroid binary system, the moonlet Dimorphos, which orbits the larger space rock Didymos. Still, the aim was to see what influence such an impact would have on both bodies. The data collected during this successful mission could help scientists better plan a planetary defense mission to divert an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.