![An illustration depicts NASA's DART satellite about to collide with the Dimorphos asteroid [Steve Gribben for Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP Photo]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVf-PscfcwHYiJtS8pp5MFmAj5JJ68i8kL1pZEQHON1NW0wmCV7b0mi0QGLMK1TIiP1SyIDYhcFO-ZhVVIf7uWOOSKDw-pUsk5otiCY_fHwxpsPII0jjN6dumovhZtf4YKm3QlK79ZFlvK3za8jnkS2mHKiDw-fDWxzXmpCwYfjA_4AlDaWV5GfJSzurC/s770/aj-nasa-astroid.jpg "An illustration depicts NASA's DART satellite about to collide with the Dimorphos asteroid [Steve Gribben for Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP Photo]")
An illustration depicts NASA's DART satellite about to collide with the Dimorphos asteroid [Steve Gribben for Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP Photo]
NASA has successfully disrupted the orbit of an asteroid by colliding the Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft (DART) with Dimorphos, a small asteroid that is the moon of a bigger space rock, Didymos.
The collision occurred at about 14,000 miles per hour and not only did the test successfully change the trajectory of the orbit but about 37 boulders were shaken off the asteroid in images captured by the Hubble telescope.
The boulders range in size from three feet to 22 feet across and are drifting away from the asteroid at about half a mile per hour. While the boulders are not a threat to Earth, the images are a reminder that future asteroid impact missions could have similar aftereffects.
