Nasa releases images of ‘planetary defense test’ as spacecraft crashed into asteroid

The first detailed images of theplanetary defense test, in which a spacecraft was crashed into a distant asteroid, have been released.

The pictures were taken by the James and Hubble telescopes, which captured Monday's impact on Dimorphos, moon of the asteroid Didymos.

Photographs of the $325m Dart (double asteroid redirection test) mission were combined into two colorful time-lapse animations.

There are a number of before and after still images showing the impact and vivid spikes of ejecta, the rocky surface material thrown out by the force of the collision.

Bill Nelson, the agency's administrator and former astronauts, said in a statement that we learn more when we work together.

For the first time, the two space probes have captured imagery from the same object in the same place. All of humanity is waiting for the discoveries to come from our ground-based telescopes.

Mission managers said at a press conference on Monday that it could be up to two months before they know if the impact moved Dimorphos from its regular path around Didymos.

Scientists will monitor its movements and speed through ground-based telescopes for any divergence, as well as studying data from the mid-IR instrument and near-IR instrument

The first part of the mission was a success. Elena Adams is the deputy manager of the Dart program.

It was a bull's eye. She believes that the first planetary defense test was a success.

The Dart mission was the first attempt by mankind to move another body outside the solar system in order to protect Earth from a large asteroid.