These pictures you will see in this article are truly historic. It is the first time in history we can the surface of an asteroid in the highest possible quality. Using artificial intelligence tools we are able to enhance the quality of the images and see the results in a better prespective.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully impacted its asteroid target Dimorphos on Monday, September 26, 2022, after 10 months of flying through space. It was the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration and NASA’s first attempt to move an asteroid in space. The 1,260-pound (570-kilogram) spacecraft was flying at a speed of about 14,000 miles (22,530 kilometers) per hour at the time of impact.
Prior to impact, the spacecraft snapped four images before it crushed itself on the Asteroid's surface. In this article, we will analyze only three of them!
1. The first image
Asteroid Didymos (top left) and its moonlet, Dimorphos, about 2.5 minutes before the impact of NASA’s DART spacecraft. The image was taken by the onboard DRACO imager from a distance of 570 miles (920 kilometers). This image was the last to contain a complete view of both asteroids. Didymos is roughly 2,500 feet (780 meters) in diameter; Dimorphos is about 525 feet (160 meters) in length. Didymos’ and Dimorphos’ north is toward the top of the image. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL, Original picture.
Now let's have a look of an enhanced version of the same one using AI.
1. The second image
In the second picture is Asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as seen by the DART spacecraft 11 seconds before impact. DART’s onboard DRACO imager captured this image from a distance of 42 miles (68 kilometers). This image was the last to contain all of Dimorphos in the field of view. Dimorphos is roughly 525 feet (160 meters) in length. Dimorphos’ north is toward the top of the image. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL. Original picture:
Now let's see the second picture with the AI Quality Enhancement tool:
3. The third image
The first image is the original image sent by NASA. It is the last image of asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, taken by the DRACO imager on NASA’s DART mission from around 7 miles (12 kilometers) from the asteroid and 2 seconds before impact. The image shows a patch of the asteroid that is 100 feet (31 meters) across. Dimorphos’ north is toward the top of the image. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
Now let us see the AI quality enhancement, and this one gives a truly amazing result:
Video released by the ATLAS project shows the explosive impact 7 million miles from Earth. ATLAS, or the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, is a collaboration between NASA and the University of Hawaii. It is designed to detect rogue space rocks, including those that might be a threat to Earth, scanning the skies several times each night.
The ATLAS telescopes in Hawaii were focused on Didymos and Dimorphos during DART's collision on Monday. The probe was traveling at over 14,000 miles per hour when it hit the smaller of the two: Dimorphos, an asteroid that's the size of Rome's Colosseum and that orbits Didymos.
