Debris ejected during the NASA spacecraft’s collision test with the asteroid Dimorphos could reach Earth, potentially creating artificial meteor showers.
The moment the DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos. (Video: NASA)
On September 26, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided with the small asteroid Dimorphos, validating the kinetic impact method—a planetary defense strategy aimed at redirecting hazardous celestial bodies. However, this method may also produce debris that could travel to Earth and other celestial bodies.
In a recent study published in The Planetary Science, an international team of scientists led by Dr. Eloy Pena-Asensio from the Polytechnic University of Milan discovered that DART provided an opportunity to observe how debris could reach Earth and Mars in the form of meteorites. After conducting a series of dynamic simulations, they concluded that material ejected from Dimorphos could arrive at Mars and the Earth-Moon system within the next decade, as reported by Science Alert on August 23.
Pena-Asensio and colleagues utilized data obtained from LICIACube, a satellite that traveled alongside DART and witnessed the kinetic impact test. This data allowed the research team to constrain the initial conditions of the ejected material, including its trajectory and velocity, which ranged from several dozen meters to 500 meters per second. Subsequently, the research team employed supercomputers at NASA’s Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) to simulate the potential outcomes. These simulations tracked 3 million particles generated from DART’s collision with Dimorphos.
NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with the small asteroid Dimorphos.
“LICIACube provided critical data on the shape and direction of the ejected material immediately after the collision. In our simulations, the particles ranged in size from 10 cm to 30 micrometers. 30 micrometers is the smallest size for a particle to be considered a detectable meteorite on Earth with current technology. Meanwhile, the 10 cm threshold is established as we only observed cm-sized debris being ejected,” Pena-Asensio explained.
The results indicated that some particles could reach Earth and Mars within a decade or more, depending on their post-collision velocities. For instance, particles ejected at speeds below 500 m/s could arrive at Mars in about 13 years, while those ejected at speeds exceeding 1.5 km/s could reach Earth in just 7 years.
However, the team’s simulations also suggested that it could take up to 30 years before these particles are observed on Earth. According to Pena-Asensio, the faster-moving particles are likely too small to create visible meteorites.
“Current meteor observation campaigns are crucial in determining whether DART has created a new artificial meteor shower. Meanwhile, meteor observation campaigns in the coming decades will provide the final results. If debris from Dimorphos reaches Earth, it will pose no threat. Their small size and high speed will cause them to disintegrate in the atmosphere, creating beautiful streaks of light in the sky,” Pena-Asensio noted.
