NASA DART spacecraft and spinning SpaceX booster seen from Earth
NASA's DART spacecraft has launched on a mission to test whether it can deflect a dangerous asteroid by crashing into it. The spacecraft will intentionally collide with the asteroid Dimorphos in late September 2022 to see if it can produce a change in the asteroid's orbit.
NASA's DART spacecraft launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a mission to test asteroid deflection. The spacecraft will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos in late September 2022. The goal is to see if the impact can produce a change in Dimorphos' orbit. A small cubesat will record the impact and telescopes will measure the change in orbit. The mission aims to validate and improve scientific computer models for asteroid deflection. The results will help protect the planet from hazardous asteroids in the future.
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