NASA: the impact of the Dart probe has changed the trajectory of the asteroid Dimorphos

The trajectory of the small asteroid Dimorphos was actually modified by the impact of NASA's Dart probe, in the first planetary defense experiment that took place in the night between 26 and 27 September last and documented by the Italian minisatellite LiciaCube, managed and coordinated by the Space Agency Italiana (Asi) and made by the Argotec company.

This was stated by the chief administrator of NASA, Bill Nelson, in the press conference organized by the American space agency.

"Dart has altered the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos and the confirmation came from the telescopes." 

During the NASA press conference, the updates dedicated to the Dart mission, the first planetary defense mission with a strong contribution from ASI thanks to the LICIACube satellite, were presented.

The meeting, opened by the NASA administrator,

, saw the participation of the president of the Italian Space Agency, Giorgio Saccoccia, who showed the latest processed images from the LICIACube satellite, with timelapse videos that portray the impact from a few seconds before to about 30 after. 

"Let me congratulate the administrator of NASA, Bill Nelson, and his team for making history with the deviation of these asteroids - said President Saccoccia -. It is something to be proud of and the planet is now a safer place

to be the reporters of this event since the Italian satellite LiciaCube first learned to follow Dart and then photographed the impact with the two asteroids Dimorphos and Didymos.

LiciaCube had two optical cameras on board that made it possible to immortalize the event, but also to guide the navigation of the cubesat.

The Italian satellite monitored the event as it traveled at a speed of 6 kilometers per second.

Soon after, he continued to monitor what happened with a flyby around the asteroids.

I still remember the night we first saw the images and couldn't believe our eyes.

A very important result ".

The extraordinary event was immortalized by the ASI LiciaCube satellite, which 11 million kilometers from Earth immediately identified the target with its two on-board cameras.

An exceptional result that involved shooting an object 160 meters in size at a relative speed of only 6.6 km per second.

A unique company with an all-Italian know-how, the result of a collaboration between universities, companies and research centers.

has made a total of 627 images of which 326 have reached Earth to date.

Once all the images have been received, they will be the subject of scientific studies that will give us more information on the cloud created by the impact and in particular to characterize its structure and its evolution.

Another important result is the collection of images of the hemispheres of the asteroids not visible in Dart, useful for defining the shape and density of celestial bodies.    

LiciaCube, acronym for

, travel companion of Dart, as big as a box of boots and with a mass of about 13 kilograms, is an ASI project and was entirely built in the Argotec company in Turin. , and is the first satellite built in our country to undertake a journey into deep space.

A real space reporter.

The LiciaCube team, all Italian, includes researchers from the Politecnico di Milano, the Universities of Bologna and Parthenope of Naples, the IFAC-CNR of Florence, coordinated by the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF).