NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission accidentally redirected space rocks to Mars. The DART spacecraft successfully crashed into a space rock called Dimorphos in 2022, and this test showed that an asteroid could be guided and prevent a future disaster.
As a result of the impact of DART, at least one of Dimorphos 37 large boulders dispersed into space. It is estimated that some of these pieces will pass the orbit of Mars and hit the surface of Mars in the coming years. Because Mars’ atmosphere has very few layers, large fragments of Dimorphos will hit the surface of Mars and create large craters.
Thanks to the mission, it became clear that asteroids are not monolithic objects, but rather piles of floating debris. It is said that the other scattered pieces will meet Mars again after 6,000 years. In other words, astronauts who may be on Mars in the future need to know that Dimorphos meteorites will return and plan accordingly.
