The 620 kg machine, launched into space in November 2021, is due to collide at 3:14 a.m. (HB) on Monday with the asteroid Dimorphos, which measures 160 meters, 11 million kilometers from us. Dimorphos is a “moon” of the larger asteroid Didymos. This system was discovered in 1996 and poses no threat to Earth. By comparison, DART and its two optical cameras are no bigger than a shoebox.
The effect of this collision will not be known immediately, warns the ESA. For this mission, the European agency is making its “Estrack” space tracking system available.
For its part, a research team from the Royal Observatory of Belgium will participate in the processing of the data delivered by DART, which should in particular be used to better understand the internal composition of asteroids.