This is the last complete image of the asteroid Dimorphos, as seen by our Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) 2 seconds before impact.
This is the last complete image of the asteroid Dimorphos, as seen by our Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) two seconds before impact. The Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) imager aboard captured a 100-foot-wide patch of the asteroid.
The DART spacecraft streamed these images from its DRACO camera back to Earth in real time as it approached the asteroid. DART successfully impacted its target on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration.
See more from the moments just before DART’s intentional crash.
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL