NASA's DART Mission Creates Human-Made Meteor Shower

NASA's Double Asteroids Redirect Test (DART) mission, which intentionally collided with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in September 2022, may result in the first human-made meteor shower, dubbed the Dimorphids. Researchers estimate that the collision generated over 2 million pounds of debris that could reach Earth and Mars within 10 to 30 years, creating a potential light show as fragments enter atmospheres. The debris, which varies in size from grains of sand to smartphones, poses no threat to Earth. The DART mission also successfully altered Dimorphos's orbital period around its parent asteroid, Didymos, by approximately 32 to 33 minutes. This study has been accepted for publication in the journal 'The Planetary Science', highlighting the ongoing significance of the DART mission in planetary defense. Scientists anticipate that the meteor activity could persist intermittently for up to a century, marking a unique milestone in space exploration.