DART goes silent after hitting an asteroid [Update]

The Double Asteroid Redirect Test probe performed its last course correction based on commands sent by ground controllers. Bobby Braun of the APL said that it was pointed to within a football field. It was spot-on.

DART's onboard camera was unable to resolve its ultimate target, the small asteroid Dimorphos, so the central body it was targeting was Didymos. It was only expected to happen about 90 minutes before impact, but DART's navigation couldn't start until it could see it. The navigation began to adjust DART's course to get it to Dimorphos. The ground controllers were only able to watch.

Braun said that space is full of moments and that they would have a moment tonight.

All worked. The images from the DRACO camera show Dimorphos filling the entire field of view over the last minutes before the collision. The final image was stopped in a moment that would usually indicate disaster. Braun had said earlier in the day that they were cheering for the loss of space craft.

We will have to wait for the details. Since DART and LICIACube separated a few weeks ago, the best images we can get are from LICIACube. LICIACube will be close to the point of impact and will pass behind Dimorphos in three minutes. It may take a day or more for images to be sent to Earth.

The first images are likely to come from ground observatories, which are looking for a brighter picture of the scene. It's very exciting to have lost count, but I don't know, but there's a lot of ground-based hardware. The count was up to three dozen, and they'll be joined by the Hubble and other telescopes. The images will be online by tomorrow.

It is possible to tell a lot about the asteroid's interior by the details of the debris plume. It will take a long time with a lot of computer modeling compared to images from multiple sources to understand what happened.

We will see if any images or details are released when NASA holds a press conference about the results.

There wasn't much to report from the press conference. There is a window at just before midnight where impact images can be sent via the Deep Space Network. We don't know if everything will work out, but we can at least see the first details. According to initial estimates, the impact happened within 17 meters of the center of the asteroid, but the shadow over part of the asteroid made it hard to identify.

Ed Reynolds said that the final approach was as clean as it appeared. The team didn't need to make any changes during approach, and they were confident as the window closed on their ability to send commands. We did not have to do the planned contingencies.

There was still hydrazine and xenon propellant on board when it hit, which could have an effect on the ejection of debris.