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    Method for Decoding Asteroid Interiors could help Aim Asteroid-Deflecting Missions

    October 21, 2022, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    3-D modeled illustration depicts the DART mission, and shows a boxy spacecraft with blue jets and solar panel wings approaching a bulky meteor.
    Caption:MIT astronomers have found a way to determine an asteroid’s interior structure based on how its spin changes during a close encounter with Earth. The tool may improve the aim of future asteroid-targeting missions like the recent DART mission.
    Credits:Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

    Astronomers have found a way to determine an asteroid’s interior structure based on how its spin changes during a close encounter with Earth. NASA hit a bullseye in late September with DART, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, which flew a spacecraft straight at the heart of a nearby asteroid. The one-way kamikaze mission smashed into the stadium-sized space rock and successfully reset the asteroid’s orbit...

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