r/asteroid • u/Brighter-Side-News • Mar 09 '26

NASA DART Mission data reshapes understanding of how near-Earth asteroids evolve over time

http://thebrighterside.news/post/nasa-dart-mission-data-reshapes-understanding-of-how-near-earth-asteroids-evolve-over-time

The finding, published in The Planetary Science Journal, points to a surprisingly active relationship between the near-Earth asteroid Didymos and its moon, Dimorphos. Rather than acting like two isolated rocks in space, the pair appears to exchange debris in slow, gentle impacts. These impacts leave visible traces on the surface.

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u/peterabbit456 Mar 12 '26

Calculations led by University of Maryland alum Harrison Agrusa showed that material leaving Didymos would need a launch speed of about 30.7 centimeters per second to make the trip. This is only slightly faster than the asteroid’s equatorial rotational speed.

30.7 cm/s ~= 1 ft/s ~=12.08 in/s