Anticipated Geological Assessment of the (65803) Didymos–Dimorphos System, Target of the DART–LICIACube Mission
M. Pajola, O. S. Barnouin, Alice Lucchetti, Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Ronald‐Louis Ballouz, Erik Asphaug, C. M. Ernst, Vincenzo Della Corte, T. L. Farnham, Giovanni Poggiali, J. M. Sunshine, E. Mazzotta Epifani, Naomi Murdoch, Simone Ieva, S. R. Schwartz, Stavro Ivanovski, J. M. Trigo‐Rodríguez, A. Rossi, N. L. Chabot, Angelo Zinzi, A. S. Rivkin, J. R. Brucato, Patrick Michel, G. Cremonese, E. Dotto, Marilena Amoroso, Ivano Bertini, Andrea Capannolo, A. F. Cheng, Biagio Cotugno, M. Dall’Ora, R. T. Daly, Valerio Di Tana, J. D. P. Deshapriya, Igor Gai, P. H. Hasselmann, Gabriele Impresario, Michèle Lavagna, Andrea Meneghin, Federico Miglioretti, Dario Modenini, P. Palumbo, D. Perna, Simone Pirrotta, Emanuele Simioni, Simone Simonetti, Paolo Tortora, Marco Zannoni, Giovanni Zanotti
Abstract
Abstract On 2022 September 26, the DART spacecraft will impact the surface of Dimorphos, the ∼160 m size satellite of the binary near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (65803) Didymos. What will be observed on the surfaces of both asteroids and at the DART impact site is largely unknown, beyond the details of Didymos revealed by previous Arecibo and Goldstone radar observations. We present here the expected DART and LICIACube observations of the Didymos system and discuss the planned mapping strategies. By searching similar geological features and processes identified on other NEAs, we constrain the impact conditions that DART might encounter at Dimorphos, assessing both the asteroid’s surface and interior structure.