Spacecraft observations revealed that rocks on carbonaceous asteroids, which constitute the most numerous class by composition, can develop millimeter-to-meter-scale fractures due to thermal stresses. However, signatures of this process on the second-most populous group of asteroids, the S-complex, have been poorly constrained. Here, we report observations of boulders' fractures on Dimorphos, which is the moonlet of the S-complex asteroid (65803) Didymos, the target of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense mission. We show that the size-frequency distribution and orientation of the mapped fractures are consistent with formation through thermal fatigue. The fractures' preferential orientation supports that these have originated in situ on Dimorphos boulders and not on Didymos boulders later transferred to Dimorphos. Based on our model of the fracture propagation, we propose that thermal fatigue on rocks exposed on the surface of S-type asteroids can form shallow, horizontally propagating fractures in much shorter timescales (100 kyr) than in the direction normal to the boulder surface (order of Myrs). The presence of boulder fields affected by thermal fracturing on near-Earth asteroid surfaces may contribute to an enhancement in the ejected mass and momentum from kinetic impactors when deflecting asteroids.

Agenzia Spaziale Italiana Roma Italy

Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca Industriale Aerospaziale Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna Forlì Italy

Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta GA 30332 USA

Departamento de Física Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal Universidad de Alicante Alicante Spain

Department of Aerospace Engineering Auburn University Auburn AL 36849 USA

Department of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA USA

Departments of Astronomy and Geology University of Maryland College Park MD USA

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna Forlì Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze and Tecnologie Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope Centro Direzionale Napoli Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Aerospaziali Politecnico di Milano Bovisa Campus Milano Italy

DLR Institute of Planetary Research Berlin Germany

IFAC CNR Sesto Fiorentino Firenze Italy

INAF Astronomical Observatory of Padova Vic Osservatorio 5 35122 Padova Italy

INAF Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali Roma Italy

INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri Firenze Italy

INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte Napoli Italy

INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma Monte Porzio Catone Roma Italy

INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste Trieste Italy

Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace Université de Toulouse Toulouse France

Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

IUFACyT Universidad de Alicante Alicante Spain

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Laurel MD 20723 USA

Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD USA

LESIA Observatorie de Paris PSL Paris France

Planetary Science Institute Tucson AZ USA

Royal Observatory of Belgium Uccle Belgium

School of Engineering Department of Systems Innovation The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan

Space Research and Planetary Sciences Physikalisches Institut University of Bern Bern Switzerland

Space Science Data Center ASI Roma Italy

Universidad Complutense Madrid Spain

Université Côte d'Azur Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur CNRS Laboratoire Lagrange Nice France

University of Arizona Tucson AZ USA

University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

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