NASA says the test has shown it is possible to deflect an asteroid if one were threatening Earth -- but only if it is spotted in time.
Last year NASA tested out a new method for defending the planet from incoming objects by crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid. Recently, further analysis of data from the impact has shown more about what occurred during and after the impact, and how effective it was at changing the orbit of the asteroid.
The data from Hubble is also shown in the form of three images. The first shows the scene around two hours after impact, with a cone of material called ejecta made up of around 1,000 tons of dust. The second image from 17 hours after impact shows how this cone of material interacts with the gravity of the other asteroid in the pair, called Didymos. Finally, the third image shows how the ejecta is pulled into a tail shape due to the effects of sunlight.
More analysis of the data from the impact has been reported by NASA. The agency shared in an update that the impact altered the orbit of Dimorphos by 33 minutes, showing that this method can be effective at changing an asteroid’s trajectory.
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