The mission was successful, and Dimorphos’ orbit was shortened by 33 minutes in the weeks after the impact.

However, a team of high school students led by teacher Jonathan Swift at Thacher School in California have discovered that Dimorphos’ orbit continued to shrink by another minute more than a month after the collision.

‘The number we got was slightly larger, a change of 34 minutes,’ said Mr Swift. ‘That was inconsistent at an uncomfortable level.’