Recent images released by NASA have revealed new information about the origin of the asteroid system. Nearly two years ago, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, or DART, collided with Dimorphos, a small asteroid that is the moon of a larger space rock, Gemini, at about 14,000 miles per hour, testing a strategy for defense against a potential asteroid headed for Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a series of studies published this week, NASA researchers suggested that the mission did much more than achieve its original goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The five papers, published in the journal Nature Communications: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
provided information on the origin, physical characteristics and evolution of asteroids and are helping scientists better understand binary asteroid systems, such as the planetary asteroid Gemini and the lunar (that is, satellite) asteroid. Deformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These findings give us new insights into the ways in which asteroids can change over time,” said Thomas Statler, chief scientist for small solar system bodies at NASA headquarters in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n