65803 Didymos

Author(s): John van Vliet N3cronium pedro_jg SpaceExplorer

Release date:

Last updated:

65803 Didymos is a near-Earth asteroid from the Apollo group, discovered in 1996 and with ~780 m in diameter. Its small moon, Dimorphos, with ~160 m in diameter, was the target of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission in September 2022, which successfully demonstrated the use of kinetic impact for planetary defense. A subsequent mission, ESA's Hera, will arrive at the binary system in November 2026 to assess in detail the effects of the DART impact.

The orbit of Dimorphos before and after the DART impact, 2022-Sept-26

Help us translate this page here.

Open in Celestia (Recommended) or Download

How to install add-ons? Find out here.