NASA has successfully driven an asteroid into an Earth defense test

Four years ago, NASA intentionally shot a spacecraft into a small asteroid — a test to prove humanity could protect Earth from the threat of space rocks.

The experiment pushed the lunar asteroid Dimorphos into a smaller, faster path around its sibling Didymos — and according to new research on Friday, it pushed the pair into a slightly different orbit around the Sun.

The test on Dimorphos is not based on any real threat to our planet.

But a successful trial and additional analysis will provide a solid data point to mount defenses should any such eventual threat be detected, the researchers said.

“This study marks a significant step forward in our ability to prevent future asteroid impacts on Earth,” an international team of researchers wrote in their new paper published in the journal Science Advances.

Their observations, described in the paper, showed that the Double Asteroid Reorientation Test (DART) in 2022 was “the first time a human-made object has measurably changed the path of a celestial body around the Sun,” NASA said in a statement.

To obtain hyper-precise measurements of the asteroid’s position, speed and shape, his team tracked the star’s mysteries, which cause a brief dimming for less than a second, the moment an asteroid passes in front of the star, said Rahil Makadia, lead author of the study.

Small change, significant deviation

Obtaining this data is no small feat. The team relies on volunteer astronomers from around the world who have documented 22 of these stellar mysteries.

Using that data along with years of additional observations, Makadia said the team was able to precisely measure Didymos’ orbit around the Sun.

“We were able to measure exactly what this change was,” he said, and made calculations that could help future “planetary defense efforts.”

Read moreHow Earth Can Defend Itself Against ‘City Killer’ Asteroid

The orbital change was short – only 0.15 seconds.

But scientists say it’s enough to make a difference.

“This is a small change to the orbit, but given enough time, even a small change can grow into a significant deviation,” Thomas Statler, principal scientist for small solar system bodies at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.

“The team’s incredibly precise measurement once again validates kinetic impact as a strategy to protect Earth against asteroid hazards and shows how a binary asteroid can be disturbed by impacting just one member of a pair.”

(With FRANCE 24 AFP)