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Almost a year has passed since NASA intentionally crashed a $300 million spacecraft into an asteroid. However, now, the asteroid is behaving unexpectedly.

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was a one-of-a-kind stunt. They slammed a spacecraft into the space rock Dimporphos at 14,000 miles per hour on September 26, 2022.

Dimorphos orbits another asteroid called Didymos. While neither object threatened Earth, the DART demonstrated that NASA could nudge an asteroid and alter its trajectory. The action might come in handy if a planetary defence scenario ever materialises. 

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The tiny but mighty DART craft shortened Dimorphos' orbital period by about 33 minutes. 

However, according to a new research, Dimorphos' orbiting time has decreased by another full minute compared to NASA's numbers, New Scientist reported. A high school teacher and his students conducted the research from September to November 2022. The study said the asteroid's orbital period, initially 11 hours 55 minutes, has decreased by 34 minutes.

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Jonathan Swift, a math and science teacher at the Thacher School who participated in the research, said, "That was inconsistent at an uncomfortable level." He said, "We tried our best to find the crack in what we had done, but we couldn't find anything." His team presented their findings at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in New Mexico in June, receiving positive responses.

However, Dimorphos' unexpected behaviour is not a cause for alarm, as the asteroid still poses no threat to Earth. But it could teach scientists more about asteroid deflection. 

No other mission before DART had ever conducted a planetary defence test. Thus, Dimorphos is the only real-world example to learn from. 

Scientists do not have the accurate reason behind Dimorphos' unexpected behaviour. But there are some theories. 

One theory suggests that Dimorphos was once tidally locked to Didymos, meaning, like Earth's moon, the same side of the satellite always faced its host. However, the DART mission might have changed its alignment, causing Dimorphos to tumble around as the system's tidal forces changed its orbit. If this theory is true, Dimorphos will likely settle back into a tidally locked state over time, a DART team member said. 

If the new study is accurate, it won't be the first unintended consequence of NASA's DART mission. Researchers have been learning more about the effects of the spacecraft's crash at Dimorphos over the past year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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