The Dynamical State of the Didymos System before and after the DART Impact

Derek C. Richardson; Harrison F. Agrusa; Brent Barbee; Rachel H. Cueva; Fabio Ferrari; Seth A. Jacobson; Rahil Makadia; Alex J. Meyer; Patrick Michel; Ryota Nakano; Yun Zhang; Paul Abell; Colby C. Merrill; Adriano Campo Bagatin; Olivier Barnouin; Nancy L. Chabot; Andrew F. Cheng; Steven R. Chesley; R. Terik Daly; Siegfried Eggl; Carolyn M. Ernst; Eugene G. Fahnestock; Tony L. Farnham; Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz; Edoardo Gramigna; Douglas P. Hamilton; Masatoshi Hirabayashi; Martin Jutzi; Josh Lyzhoft; Riccardo Lasagni Manghi; Jay McMahon; Fernando Moreno; Naomi Murdoch; Shantanu P. Naidu; Eric E. Palmer; Paolo Panicucci; Laurent Pou; Petr Pravec; Sabina D. Raducan; Andrew S. Rivkin; Alessandro Rossi; Paul Sánchez; Daniel J. Scheeres; Peter Scheirich; Stephen R. Schwartz; Damya Souami; Gonzalo Tancredi; Paolo Tanga; Paolo Tortora; Jose M. Trigo-Rodríguez; Kleomenis Tsianis; John Wimarsson; Marco Zannoni

doi:10.3847/PSJ/ad62f5

The Dynamical State of the Didymos System before and after the DART Impact

Derek C. Richardson, Harrison F. Agrusa, Brent Barbee, Rachel H. Cueva, Fabio Ferrari, Seth A. Jacobson, Rahil Makadia, Alex J. Meyer, Patrick Michel, Ryota Nakano, Yun Zhang, Paul Abell, Colby C. Merrill, Adriano Campo Bagatin, Olivier Barnouin, Nancy L. Chabot, Andrew F. Cheng, Steven R. Chesley, R. Terik Daly, Siegfried EgglCarolyn M. Ernst, Eugene G. Fahnestock, Tony L. Farnham, Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz, Edoardo Gramigna, Douglas P. Hamilton, Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Martin Jutzi, Josh Lyzhoft, Riccardo Lasagni Manghi, Jay McMahon, Fernando Moreno, Naomi Murdoch, Shantanu P. Naidu, Eric E. Palmer, Paolo Panicucci, Laurent Pou, Petr Pravec, Sabina D. Raducan, Andrew S. Rivkin, Alessandro Rossi, Paul Sánchez, Daniel J. Scheeres, Peter Scheirich, Stephen R. Schwartz, Damya Souami, Gonzalo Tancredi, Paolo Tanga, Paolo Tortora, Jose M. Trigo-Rodríguez, Kleomenis Tsianis, John Wimarsson, Marco Zannoni

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the natural satellite of (65803) Didymos, on 2022 September 26, as a first successful test of kinetic impactor technology for deflecting a potentially hazardous object in space. The experiment resulted in a small change to the dynamical state of the Didymos system consistent with expectations and Level 1 mission requirements. In the preencounter paper, predictions were put forward regarding the pre- and postimpact dynamical state of the Didymos system. Here we assess these predictions, update preliminary findings published after the impact, report on new findings related to dynamics, and provide implications for ESA’s Hera mission to Didymos, scheduled for launch in 2024 October with arrival in 2026 December. Preencounter predictions tested to date are largely in line with observations, despite the unexpected, flattened appearance of Didymos compared to the radar model and the apparent preimpact oblate shape of Dimorphos (with implications for the origin of the system that remain under investigation). New findings include that Dimorphos likely became prolate due to the impact and may have entered a tumbling rotation state. A possible detection of a postimpact transient secular decrease in the binary orbital period suggests possible dynamical coupling with persistent ejecta. Timescales for damping of any tumbling and clearing of any debris are uncertain. The largest uncertainty in the momentum transfer enhancement factor of the DART impact remains the mass of Dimorphos, which will be resolved by the Hera mission.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	ad62f5
Journal	Planetary Science Journal
Volume	5
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad62f5
State	Published - Aug 1 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Space and Planetary Science

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Richardson, D. C., Agrusa, H. F., Barbee, B., Cueva, R. H., Ferrari, F., Jacobson, S. A., Makadia, R., Meyer, A. J., Michel, P., Nakano, R., Zhang, Y., Abell, P., Merrill, C. C., Bagatin, A. C., Barnouin, O., Chabot, N. L., Cheng, A. F., Chesley, S. R., Daly, R. T., ... Zannoni, M. (2024). The Dynamical State of the Didymos System before and after the DART Impact. Planetary Science Journal, 5(8), Article ad62f5. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad62f5

Richardson, DC, Agrusa, HF, Barbee, B, Cueva, RH, Ferrari, F, Jacobson, SA, Makadia, R, Meyer, AJ, Michel, P, Nakano, R, Zhang, Y, Abell, P, Merrill, CC, Bagatin, AC, Barnouin, O, Chabot, NL, Cheng, AF, Chesley, SR, Daly, RT, Eggl, S, Ernst, CM, Fahnestock, EG, Farnham, TL, Fuentes-Muñoz, O, Gramigna, E, Hamilton, DP, Hirabayashi, M, Jutzi, M, Lyzhoft, J, Manghi, RL, McMahon, J, Moreno, F, Murdoch, N, Naidu, SP, Palmer, EE, Panicucci, P, Pou, L, Pravec, P, Raducan, SD, Rivkin, AS, Rossi, A, Sánchez, P, Scheeres, DJ, Scheirich, P, Schwartz, SR, Souami, D, Tancredi, G, Tanga, P, Tortora, P, Trigo-Rodríguez, JM, Tsianis, K, Wimarsson, J & Zannoni, M 2024, 'The Dynamical State of the Didymos System before and after the DART Impact', Planetary Science Journal, vol. 5, no. 8, ad62f5. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad62f5

@article{470e33d35b8e4cb49379d2db4bd0cfc7,

title = "The Dynamical State of the Didymos System before and after the DART Impact",

abstract = "NASA{\textquoteright}s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the natural satellite of (65803) Didymos, on 2022 September 26, as a first successful test of kinetic impactor technology for deflecting a potentially hazardous object in space. The experiment resulted in a small change to the dynamical state of the Didymos system consistent with expectations and Level 1 mission requirements. In the preencounter paper, predictions were put forward regarding the pre- and postimpact dynamical state of the Didymos system. Here we assess these predictions, update preliminary findings published after the impact, report on new findings related to dynamics, and provide implications for ESA{\textquoteright}s Hera mission to Didymos, scheduled for launch in 2024 October with arrival in 2026 December. Preencounter predictions tested to date are largely in line with observations, despite the unexpected, flattened appearance of Didymos compared to the radar model and the apparent preimpact oblate shape of Dimorphos (with implications for the origin of the system that remain under investigation). New findings include that Dimorphos likely became prolate due to the impact and may have entered a tumbling rotation state. A possible detection of a postimpact transient secular decrease in the binary orbital period suggests possible dynamical coupling with persistent ejecta. Timescales for damping of any tumbling and clearing of any debris are uncertain. The largest uncertainty in the momentum transfer enhancement factor of the DART impact remains the mass of Dimorphos, which will be resolved by the Hera mission.",

author = "Richardson, {Derek C.} and Agrusa, {Harrison F.} and Brent Barbee and Cueva, {Rachel H.} and Fabio Ferrari and Jacobson, {Seth A.} and Rahil Makadia and Meyer, {Alex J.} and Patrick Michel and Ryota Nakano and Yun Zhang and Paul Abell and Merrill, {Colby C.} and Bagatin, {Adriano Campo} and Olivier Barnouin and Chabot, {Nancy L.} and Cheng, {Andrew F.} and Chesley, {Steven R.} and Daly, {R. Terik} and Siegfried Eggl and Ernst, {Carolyn M.} and Fahnestock, {Eugene G.} and Farnham, {Tony L.} and Oscar Fuentes-Mu{\~n}oz and Edoardo Gramigna and Hamilton, {Douglas P.} and Masatoshi Hirabayashi and Martin Jutzi and Josh Lyzhoft and Manghi, {Riccardo Lasagni} and Jay McMahon and Fernando Moreno and Naomi Murdoch and Naidu, {Shantanu P.} and Palmer, {Eric E.} and Paolo Panicucci and Laurent Pou and Petr Pravec and Raducan, {Sabina D.} and Rivkin, {Andrew S.} and Alessandro Rossi and Paul S{\'a}nchez and Scheeres, {Daniel J.} and Peter Scheirich and Schwartz, {Stephen R.} and Damya Souami and Gonzalo Tancredi and Paolo Tanga and Paolo Tortora and Trigo-Rodr{\'i}guez, {Jose M.} and Kleomenis Tsianis and John Wimarsson and Marco Zannoni",

note = "H.F.A. was supported by the French government, through the UCA J.E.D.I. Investments in the Future project managed by the National Research Agency (ANR) with the reference number ANR-15-IDEX-01. R.H.C. acknowledges that this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant No. DGE 2040434. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. F.F. acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\u2019s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101077758). R.M. acknowledges that this work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) award, NASA contract No. 80NSSC22K1173. P.M. acknowledges support from the French space agency CNES and ESA. R.N. acknowledges support from NASA/FINESST (NNH20ZDA001N). Y.Z. acknowledges the support provided by NASA through grant HST-GO-17292 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. A.C.B., E.G., M.J., P.M., R.L.M., S.D.R., P.T., K.T., and M.Z. acknowledge funding support from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (project NEO-MAPP). The work of S.R.C, E.G.F, and S.P.N was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (#80NM0018D0004). E.G., R.L.M., M.Z., and P.T. wish to acknowledge Caltech and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for granting the University of Bologna a license to an executable version of MONTE Project Edition S/W. E.G., R.L.M., A.R., M.Z., and P.T. are grateful to the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for financial support through Agreement No. 2022-8-HH.0 in the context of ESA\u2019s Hera mission. M.J. and S.D.R. acknowledge support by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 200021 207359). J.M. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program (#80NSSC21K1048). F.M. acknowledges financial support from grants PID2021123370OB-I00 and CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. N.M. acknowledges funding support from the European Commission\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (NEO-MAPP project) and support from the Centre National d\u2019Etudes Spatiales (CNES), focused on the Hera space mission. L.P. was supported by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities under contract with NASA. P.P. and P.S. acknowledge support by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, grant 23-04946S. S.R.S. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program, grant no. 80NSSC22K0318. D.S. acknowledges support of the France-USA Fulbright Commission while a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (2022\u20132023) at UC Berkeley and thanks Action F\u00E9d\u00E9ratrice Gaia of the Paris Observatory for financial support. G.T. acknowledges financial support from project FCE-1-2019-1-156451 of the Agencia Nacional de Investigaci\u00F3n e Innovaci\u00F3n ANII and Grupos I+D 2022 CSIC-Udelar (Uruguay). P.T., A.R., and M.Z. acknowledge financial support from Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI, contract No. 2019-31-HH.0 CUP F84I190012600). J.M.T.-R. acknowledges support from the Spanish project PID2021-128062NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI. We thank Paula Benavidez, \u00D6zg\u00FCr Karatekin, and the anonymous reviewers who provided comments that helped improve this paper. The work presented here was supported in part by the DART mission, NASA Contract #80MSFC20D0004 to JHU/APL. Part of this work was supported by the Programme National de Plan\u00E9tologie (PNP) of CNRS-INSU cofunded by CNES, by CNES itself, and by the BQR program of the Observatoire de la C\u00F4te d\u2019Azur. The ACROSS project is supported under the OSIP ESA CONTRACT No. 4000135299/21/NL/GLC/ov. This study makes use of data obtained by the Observing Working Group of the DART Investigation Team. Some simulations were performed on the ASTRA cluster administered by the Center for Theory and Computation, part of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland. H.F.A. was supported by the French government, through the UCA J.E.D.I. Investments in the Future project managed by the National Research Agency (ANR) with the reference number ANR-15-IDEX-01. R.H.C. acknowledges that this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant No. DGE 2040434. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. F.F. acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\u2019s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101077758). R.M. acknowledges that this work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) award, NASA contract No. 80NSSC22K1173. P.M. acknowledges support from the French space agency CNES and ESA. R.N. acknowledges support from NASA/FINESST (NNH20ZDA001N). Y.Z. acknowledges the support provided by NASA through grant HST-GO-17292 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. A.C.B., E.G., M.J., P.M., R.L.M., S.D.R., P.T., K.T., and M. Z. acknowledge funding support from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (project NEO-MAPP). The work of S. R.C, E.G.F, and S.P.N was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (#80NM0018D0004). E.G., R.L.M., M.Z., and P.T. wish to acknowledge Caltech and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for granting the University of Bologna a license to an executable version of MONTE Project Edition S/W. E. G., R.L.M., A.R., M.Z., and P.T. are grateful to the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for financial support through Agreement No. 2022-8-HH.0 in the context of ESA\u2019s Hera mission. M.J. and S.D.R. acknowledge support by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 200021 207359). J.M. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program (#80NSSC21K1048). F.M. acknowledges financial support from grants PID2021123370OB-I00 and CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. N.M. acknowledges funding support from the European Commission\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (NEO-MAPP project) and support from the Centre National d\u2019Etudes Spatiales (CNES), focused on the Hera space mission. L.P. was supported by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities under contract with NASA. P.P. and P.S. acknowledge support by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, grant 23-04946S. S.R.S. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program, grant no. 80NSSC22K0318. D.S. acknowledges support of the France-USA Fulbright Commission while a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (2022\u20132023) at UC Berkeley and thanks Action F\u00E9d\u00E9ratrice Gaia of the Paris Observatory for financial support. G.T. acknowledges financial support from project FCE-1-2019-1-156451 of the Agencia Nacional de Investigaci\u00F3n e Innovaci\u00F3n ANII and Grupos I+D 2022 CSIC-Udelar (Uruguay). P.T., A.R., and M.Z. acknowledge financial support from Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI, contract No. 2019-31-HH.0 CUP F84I190012600). J.M.T.-R. acknowledges support from the Spanish project PID2021-128062NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI. The work presented here was supported in part by the DART mission, NASA Contract #80MSFC20D0004 to JHU/APL. Part of this work was supported by the Programme National de Plan\u00E9tologie (PNP) of CNRS-INSU cofunded by CNES, by CNES itself, and by the BQR program of the Observatoire de la C\u00F4te d\u2019Azur. The ACROSS project is supported under the OSIP ESA CONTRACT No. 4000135299/21/NL/GLC/ov. This study makes use of data obtained by the Observing Working Group of the DART Investigation Team. Some simulations were performed on the ASTRA cluster administered by the Center for Theory and Computation, part of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland.",

year = "2024",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/PSJ/ad62f5",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "5",

journal = "Planetary Science Journal",

issn = "2632-3338",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",

number = "8",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Dynamical State of the Didymos System before and after the DART Impact

AU - Richardson, Derek C.

AU - Agrusa, Harrison F.

AU - Barbee, Brent

AU - Cueva, Rachel H.

AU - Ferrari, Fabio

AU - Jacobson, Seth A.

AU - Makadia, Rahil

AU - Meyer, Alex J.

AU - Michel, Patrick

AU - Nakano, Ryota

AU - Zhang, Yun

AU - Abell, Paul

AU - Merrill, Colby C.

AU - Bagatin, Adriano Campo

AU - Barnouin, Olivier

AU - Chabot, Nancy L.

AU - Cheng, Andrew F.

AU - Chesley, Steven R.

AU - Daly, R. Terik

AU - Eggl, Siegfried

AU - Ernst, Carolyn M.

AU - Fahnestock, Eugene G.

AU - Farnham, Tony L.

AU - Fuentes-Muñoz, Oscar

AU - Gramigna, Edoardo

AU - Hamilton, Douglas P.

AU - Hirabayashi, Masatoshi

AU - Jutzi, Martin

AU - Lyzhoft, Josh

AU - Manghi, Riccardo Lasagni

AU - McMahon, Jay

AU - Moreno, Fernando

AU - Murdoch, Naomi

AU - Naidu, Shantanu P.

AU - Palmer, Eric E.

AU - Panicucci, Paolo

AU - Pou, Laurent

AU - Pravec, Petr

AU - Raducan, Sabina D.

AU - Rivkin, Andrew S.

AU - Rossi, Alessandro

AU - Sánchez, Paul

AU - Scheeres, Daniel J.

AU - Scheirich, Peter

AU - Schwartz, Stephen R.

AU - Souami, Damya

AU - Tancredi, Gonzalo

AU - Tanga, Paolo

AU - Tortora, Paolo

AU - Trigo-Rodríguez, Jose M.

AU - Tsianis, Kleomenis

AU - Wimarsson, John

AU - Zannoni, Marco

N1 - H.F.A. was supported by the French government, through the UCA J.E.D.I. Investments in the Future project managed by the National Research Agency (ANR) with the reference number ANR-15-IDEX-01. R.H.C. acknowledges that this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant No. DGE 2040434. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. F.F. acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\u2019s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101077758). R.M. acknowledges that this work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) award, NASA contract No. 80NSSC22K1173. P.M. acknowledges support from the French space agency CNES and ESA. R.N. acknowledges support from NASA/FINESST (NNH20ZDA001N). Y.Z. acknowledges the support provided by NASA through grant HST-GO-17292 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. A.C.B., E.G., M.J., P.M., R.L.M., S.D.R., P.T., K.T., and M.Z. acknowledge funding support from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (project NEO-MAPP). The work of S.R.C, E.G.F, and S.P.N was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (#80NM0018D0004). E.G., R.L.M., M.Z., and P.T. wish to acknowledge Caltech and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for granting the University of Bologna a license to an executable version of MONTE Project Edition S/W. E.G., R.L.M., A.R., M.Z., and P.T. are grateful to the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for financial support through Agreement No. 2022-8-HH.0 in the context of ESA\u2019s Hera mission. M.J. and S.D.R. acknowledge support by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 200021 207359). J.M. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program (#80NSSC21K1048). F.M. acknowledges financial support from grants PID2021123370OB-I00 and CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. N.M. acknowledges funding support from the European Commission\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (NEO-MAPP project) and support from the Centre National d\u2019Etudes Spatiales (CNES), focused on the Hera space mission. L.P. was supported by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities under contract with NASA. P.P. and P.S. acknowledge support by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, grant 23-04946S. S.R.S. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program, grant no. 80NSSC22K0318. D.S. acknowledges support of the France-USA Fulbright Commission while a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (2022\u20132023) at UC Berkeley and thanks Action F\u00E9d\u00E9ratrice Gaia of the Paris Observatory for financial support. G.T. acknowledges financial support from project FCE-1-2019-1-156451 of the Agencia Nacional de Investigaci\u00F3n e Innovaci\u00F3n ANII and Grupos I+D 2022 CSIC-Udelar (Uruguay). P.T., A.R., and M.Z. acknowledge financial support from Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI, contract No. 2019-31-HH.0 CUP F84I190012600). J.M.T.-R. acknowledges support from the Spanish project PID2021-128062NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI. We thank Paula Benavidez, \u00D6zg\u00FCr Karatekin, and the anonymous reviewers who provided comments that helped improve this paper. The work presented here was supported in part by the DART mission, NASA Contract #80MSFC20D0004 to JHU/APL. Part of this work was supported by the Programme National de Plan\u00E9tologie (PNP) of CNRS-INSU cofunded by CNES, by CNES itself, and by the BQR program of the Observatoire de la C\u00F4te d\u2019Azur. The ACROSS project is supported under the OSIP ESA CONTRACT No. 4000135299/21/NL/GLC/ov. This study makes use of data obtained by the Observing Working Group of the DART Investigation Team. Some simulations were performed on the ASTRA cluster administered by the Center for Theory and Computation, part of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland. H.F.A. was supported by the French government, through the UCA J.E.D.I. Investments in the Future project managed by the National Research Agency (ANR) with the reference number ANR-15-IDEX-01. R.H.C. acknowledges that this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant No. DGE 2040434. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. F.F. acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\u2019s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101077758). R.M. acknowledges that this work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) award, NASA contract No. 80NSSC22K1173. P.M. acknowledges support from the French space agency CNES and ESA. R.N. acknowledges support from NASA/FINESST (NNH20ZDA001N). Y.Z. acknowledges the support provided by NASA through grant HST-GO-17292 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. A.C.B., E.G., M.J., P.M., R.L.M., S.D.R., P.T., K.T., and M. Z. acknowledge funding support from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (project NEO-MAPP). The work of S. R.C, E.G.F, and S.P.N was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (#80NM0018D0004). E.G., R.L.M., M.Z., and P.T. wish to acknowledge Caltech and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for granting the University of Bologna a license to an executable version of MONTE Project Edition S/W. E. G., R.L.M., A.R., M.Z., and P.T. are grateful to the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for financial support through Agreement No. 2022-8-HH.0 in the context of ESA\u2019s Hera mission. M.J. and S.D.R. acknowledge support by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 200021 207359). J.M. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program (#80NSSC21K1048). F.M. acknowledges financial support from grants PID2021123370OB-I00 and CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. N.M. acknowledges funding support from the European Commission\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870377 (NEO-MAPP project) and support from the Centre National d\u2019Etudes Spatiales (CNES), focused on the Hera space mission. L.P. was supported by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities under contract with NASA. P.P. and P.S. acknowledge support by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, grant 23-04946S. S.R.S. acknowledges support from the DART Participating Scientist Program, grant no. 80NSSC22K0318. D.S. acknowledges support of the France-USA Fulbright Commission while a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (2022\u20132023) at UC Berkeley and thanks Action F\u00E9d\u00E9ratrice Gaia of the Paris Observatory for financial support. G.T. acknowledges financial support from project FCE-1-2019-1-156451 of the Agencia Nacional de Investigaci\u00F3n e Innovaci\u00F3n ANII and Grupos I+D 2022 CSIC-Udelar (Uruguay). P.T., A.R., and M.Z. acknowledge financial support from Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI, contract No. 2019-31-HH.0 CUP F84I190012600). J.M.T.-R. acknowledges support from the Spanish project PID2021-128062NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI. The work presented here was supported in part by the DART mission, NASA Contract #80MSFC20D0004 to JHU/APL. Part of this work was supported by the Programme National de Plan\u00E9tologie (PNP) of CNRS-INSU cofunded by CNES, by CNES itself, and by the BQR program of the Observatoire de la C\u00F4te d\u2019Azur. The ACROSS project is supported under the OSIP ESA CONTRACT No. 4000135299/21/NL/GLC/ov. This study makes use of data obtained by the Observing Working Group of the DART Investigation Team. Some simulations were performed on the ASTRA cluster administered by the Center for Theory and Computation, part of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland.

PY - 2024/8/1

Y1 - 2024/8/1

N2 - NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the natural satellite of (65803) Didymos, on 2022 September 26, as a first successful test of kinetic impactor technology for deflecting a potentially hazardous object in space. The experiment resulted in a small change to the dynamical state of the Didymos system consistent with expectations and Level 1 mission requirements. In the preencounter paper, predictions were put forward regarding the pre- and postimpact dynamical state of the Didymos system. Here we assess these predictions, update preliminary findings published after the impact, report on new findings related to dynamics, and provide implications for ESA’s Hera mission to Didymos, scheduled for launch in 2024 October with arrival in 2026 December. Preencounter predictions tested to date are largely in line with observations, despite the unexpected, flattened appearance of Didymos compared to the radar model and the apparent preimpact oblate shape of Dimorphos (with implications for the origin of the system that remain under investigation). New findings include that Dimorphos likely became prolate due to the impact and may have entered a tumbling rotation state. A possible detection of a postimpact transient secular decrease in the binary orbital period suggests possible dynamical coupling with persistent ejecta. Timescales for damping of any tumbling and clearing of any debris are uncertain. The largest uncertainty in the momentum transfer enhancement factor of the DART impact remains the mass of Dimorphos, which will be resolved by the Hera mission.

AB - NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the natural satellite of (65803) Didymos, on 2022 September 26, as a first successful test of kinetic impactor technology for deflecting a potentially hazardous object in space. The experiment resulted in a small change to the dynamical state of the Didymos system consistent with expectations and Level 1 mission requirements. In the preencounter paper, predictions were put forward regarding the pre- and postimpact dynamical state of the Didymos system. Here we assess these predictions, update preliminary findings published after the impact, report on new findings related to dynamics, and provide implications for ESA’s Hera mission to Didymos, scheduled for launch in 2024 October with arrival in 2026 December. Preencounter predictions tested to date are largely in line with observations, despite the unexpected, flattened appearance of Didymos compared to the radar model and the apparent preimpact oblate shape of Dimorphos (with implications for the origin of the system that remain under investigation). New findings include that Dimorphos likely became prolate due to the impact and may have entered a tumbling rotation state. A possible detection of a postimpact transient secular decrease in the binary orbital period suggests possible dynamical coupling with persistent ejecta. Timescales for damping of any tumbling and clearing of any debris are uncertain. The largest uncertainty in the momentum transfer enhancement factor of the DART impact remains the mass of Dimorphos, which will be resolved by the Hera mission.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202950014&partnerID=8YFLogxK

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U2 - 10.3847/PSJ/ad62f5

DO - 10.3847/PSJ/ad62f5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85202950014

SN - 2632-3338

VL - 5

JO - Planetary Science Journal

JF - Planetary Science Journal

IS - 8

M1 - ad62f5

ER -

The Dynamical State of the Didymos System before and after the DART Impact

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