Shoemaker-Levy 9 Jupiter Impact 3D Explorer vs DART Asteroid Deflection 3D Explorer
freetoolonline.com editorial teamBoth pages scrub a real, directly-observed impact event in one page load - 0 MB installed, USD 0, no account. The Shoemaker-Levy 9 Jupiter Impact 3D Explorer covers a natural comet torn apart by a planet's own gravity, then striking that planet on its own; the DART Asteroid Deflection 3D Explorer covers a deliberate, human-made spacecraft impact designed to test whether we can change an asteroid's path.
The numbers side by side
| Aspect | Shoemaker-Levy 9 Explorer | DART Asteroid Deflection Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Install size | 0 MB - runs in the browser | 0 MB - runs in the browser |
| Price | USD 0 | USD 0 |
| Impact date(s) | 1994-07-16 through 1994-07-22 (11 named fragments) | 2022-09-26 (one spacecraft) |
| Impactor | a natural comet fragment, up to about 2 km across | a 579 kg human-made spacecraft |
| Impact speed | about 60 km/s (216,000 km/h) | about 6.14 km/s (about 22,530 km/h) |
| Body struck | Jupiter, a planet 71,492 km in equatorial radius | Dimorphos, an asteroid moonlet about 160 m across |
| Was it deliberate? | No - a natural gravitational encounter, predicted years in advance | Yes - a planned NASA kinetic-impact test |
| Measured result | Fragment G's impact: about 6 million megatons TNT; a scar about 12,000 km across | Dimorphos's orbital period shortened by 33 minutes |
Where the DART Asteroid Deflection Explorer wins
The DART Asteroid Deflection Explorer wins when the question is whether humanity can deliberately change an asteroid's path on purpose - it is the only page on the site with a before/after orbital-period measurement from a controlled experiment.
Where the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Explorer wins
The Shoemaker-Levy 9 Explorer wins when the question is what happens when a comet meets a planet with no human intervention at all - it is the only page on the site showing a multi-fragment "string of pearls" impact train and a scar large enough to compare directly against Earth's own diameter.
A reasonable rule
As a reasonable rule, use the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Explorer to see how big a natural, planet-scale impact can be, then use the DART Asteroid Deflection Explorer to see the much smaller scale of a real, deliberate impact test designed to protect Earth in the future.
See how to use the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Jupiter Impact 3D Explorer for a step-by-step walkthrough.
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