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DART asteroid crash: What time will NASA probe hit Dimorphos on Sept. 26? - Space.com

DART asteroid crash: What time will NASA probe hit Dimorphos on Sept. 26? - Space.com

DART asteroid crash: What time will NASA probe hit Dimorphos on Sept. 26? - Space.com
Sep 24, 2022 2 mins, 23 secs

NASA's DART spacecraft will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos on Sept.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART asteroid mission, will slam a spacecraft into the tiny moon of the asteroid Didymos on Monday, Sept.

If all goes well, the spacecraft will hit the moonlet, called Dimorphos, and snap images until the moment of impact.

DART's target Dimorphos is about 560 feet (170 meters) wide and orbits its larger parent Didymos once every 11 hours and 55 minutes.

While the stage was set for NASA's DART asteroid impact with its launch in 2021, the space rock impact action really starts to heat up in the final 24 hours?

25, approximately 24 hours before impact, the navigation team will know the position of the target Dimorphos within 2 kilometers [1.2 miles]," NASA officials wrote in a statement (opens in new tab).

About four hours before impact, the DART spacecraft will enter what mission scientists call its "terminal phase." The spacecraft's DRACO camera should be locked on the Didymos asteroid and looking for its moon Dimorphos. .

"At that point, at four hours, we are actually targeting Didymos because we can't see Dimorphos," said Evan Smith, DART's deputy mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in Laurel, Maryland.

That point is the binary asteroid system Didymos, which is made up of a larger asteroid named Didymos and a smaller asteroid that orbits around it called Dimorphos," NASA wrote in a video description (opens in new tab).

NASA has already released one view of Didymos from DART, as well as a view of Jupiter and its moons.

After about 2 minutes, this stream will turn into a replay — showing the final moments leading up to impact," NASA wrote. .

About 50 minutes before DART hits Dimorphos, the spacecraft should shift its targeting to the smaller moonlet at last. .

"At 50 minutes to impact, we'll have been seeing Dimorphos for maybe 40 minutes," Smith said, adding that both the moonlet and its parent Didymos should be in the spacecraft's camera view.

EDT (2254 GMT), DART will be just 20 minutes from crashing into Dimorphos and its smart navigation system will enter what is called "precision lock." .

"At 20 minutes before impact, we're going to something called precision lock, in which we totally ignore Didymos and we go straight for Dimorphos only," Smith said.

If DART hits it mark, this is when the live views of Dimorphos from the DRACO camera will cut out. .

Three minutes after DART hits Dimorphos LICIACube should fly by the impact site. .

EDT (0000 GMT on Sept. 27), NASA will hold a press conference to discuss the DART asteroid impact. 

You can watch the press briefing on our DART asteroid impact webcasts page

And that's a look at what time DART will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos and how the day will unfold. 

26, for complete coverage of NASA's DART asteroid mission. 

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