![]() The asteroid system poses no threat, NASA officials have said, making it a perfect target to test out a kinetic impact – which may be needed if an asteroid is ever on track to hit the Earth. The mission is heading for Dimorphos, a small moon orbiting the near-Earth asteroid Didymos. The DART mission, or the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, is getting ready to deliberately crash into a space rock on Monday - and it's all in the name of protecting Earth. Illustration of DART, from behind the NEXT-C ion engine (John Hopkins APL/NASA) Plus, the European Space Agency’s Hera mission will launch in 2024 to continue to study the impact. The James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Lucy mission will also observe the aftermath. ![]() Next steps: Ground-based observatories around the world will be observing the asteroid system as a way to confirm if DART successfully changed the asteroid’s motion. Scientists expect the nudge will shift Dimorphos slightly and make it more gravitationally bound to Didymos, the larger asteroid in the system. ![]() The mission team has compared this collision to a golf cart crashing into one of the Great Pyramids – enough energy to leave an impact crater. Instead, DART hopes the collision changed the asteroid's speed and path in space. ![]() The spacecraft was about 100 times smaller than Dimorphos, so it didn't obliterate the asteroid. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, or DART, spacecraft has been traveling to reach its asteroid target since launching in November 2021. On Monday, it hit its target going about 13,421 miles per hour. (NASA)Ī NASA spacecraft has successfully slammed into an asteroid called Dimorphos. A close up view of Dimorphos, moments before the DART spacecraft hit the asteroid. ![]()
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