Without having to recruit a ragtag bunch of oil drillers led by Bruce Willis to save Earth from certain destruction, NASA seems to have found a way to alter the course of asteroids before they pose a threat like the one in “Armageddon.” The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) kinetic impactor conducted last fall on Dimorphos, a small asteroid with a diameter of about 580 feet, went much better than expected. NASA spent several months analyzing the data, and the Hubble telescope captured images of the impact.
“Smashing head on into the asteroid at 13,000 miles per hour, the DART impactor blasted over 1,000 tons of dust and rock off of the asteroid,” NASA said in a statement.
That might not be worthy of a Michael Bay-directed blockbuster, but it’s still pretty cool.
MAJOR IMPACT
Dimorphos is in a binary system with the larger asteroid Didymos, which Dimorphos orbits. NASA’s goal in slamming the DART kinetic impactor into Dimorphos was to alter the length of that orbit by 73 seconds. After analysis, scientists determined that Dimorphos now takes 11 hours, 22 minutes to orbit Didymos, meaning DART shortened it by 33 minutes. That’s more than 27 times better than they’d hoped.
This story is from the May 2023 edition of The BOSS Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2023 edition of The BOSS Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Life in pink
La Vie en Rose, Canada's beloved specialty retailer, is on the verge of completing a seven-year digital transformation. Here's how they did it.
TRAIN YOUR BRAIN FOR LONG TERM HEALTH
WHEN IT COMES TO BRAIN FITNESS, SIMPLE CHANGES CAN YIELD SUPERIOR RESULTS
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
MENU CUSTOMIZATION IS EMPOWERING DINERS AND DRIVING BIG REVENUES
GETTING TO GIVE
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY MERGES EXCELLENCE AND UNIMPEACHABLE IN BUSINESS CARE WITH BLOCKBUSTER RESULTS
LITTLE BY LITTLE
NANOTECHNOLOGY IS IMPROVING MANUFACTURING IN WAYS BIG AND SMALL
The Heart of Hospitality
For procurement and supply chain leader Provista, creating a true community of c customers is the secret to their success
'AS BIG AS THE INTERNET, IF NOT BIGGER'
THE HOSTS OF AI FOR HUMANS ON AI'S POTENTIAL FOR GOOD, BAD, AND DOWNRIGHT SILLY
They Have It Covered
Yong Lee (Lee) and PHP Agency use tech innovations to inject life back into life insurance
SEE FARTHER, MOVE FASTER
BUILDING TRULY AGILE SUPPLY CHAINS
Flavor Fascination
AS A UNIQUE GLOBAL FLAVOR DEVELOPER, CITROMAX BUILDS ITS HERITAGE AND SUCCESS ON TASTE AND A QUEST TO BRING NEW SENSATIONS TO THE TABLE