A March 2026 Science Advances paper confirmed DART altered not only Dimorphos’s path around Didymos but the binary system’s orbit around the Sun—the first measured human-caused change to a celestial body’s solar trajectory.
The 2022 impact shortened the pair’s 770-day solar orbit by 0.15 seconds and changed its speed by about 11.7 microns per second, after ejecta roughly doubled the force of the spacecraft strike.
That solar-orbit shift builds on earlier findings that Dimorphos’s 12-hour orbit around Didymos was cut by 33 minutes, showing a kinetic impact on one member of a binary can move both.
Researchers derived the result from 22 stellar occultations recorded by volunteer astronomers from October 2022 to March 2025, combined with years of ground observations.
The finding strengthens kinetic impact as a planetary-defense tool if hazardous asteroids are detected early enough, while ESA’s Hera probe is due to inspect the aftermath in late 2026.
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Defending Earth: How DART and Hera Are Shaping the Future of Asteroid Impact Prevention
Overview
NASA's DART mission proved that the kinetic impactor method can change an asteroid's path, marking a major step in planetary defense. By hitting Dimorphos, DART caused a measurable shift in its motion, allowing scientists to calculate the densities of both Dimorphos and Didymos. They discovered that Dimorphos is less dense than expected, supporting the idea that it is a 'rubble pile' formed from debris shed by Didymos. This success turned the kinetic impactor from theory into a real engineering tool, giving humanity a practical way to defend against asteroid threats.