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DetlefKroeze t1_j4f7fqb wrote

Reply to comment by Doc891 in NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test Is a Smashing Success - Eos by donutloop

In this case, they hit a moonlet of a bigger asteroïd. The orbit moonlet shifted a bit, but it never left the bigger asteroid. By studying exactly how much it shifted they teams behind this will learn more about how asteroids are affected by things like this.

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Doc891 t1_j4f80rt wrote

i figured they would. So in however many years it takes to develop models, theyd be able to predict trajectories after the collision and see what its new path. Correct? But how far out would they be able to look and would they, or do they, have the projected paths of the entire milky way and all objects in it to predict the natural course of events after collision?

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