NASA Fired A Spacecraft Into An Asteroid And Redirected It — Now What?
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) shows that we could one day save Earth from an otherwise life-threatening rock hurtling towards the planet.
On Monday evening, a specially-engineered NASA spacecraft traveling at 14,000 miles per hour crashed into the side of an asteroid hurtling through space, successfully altering the space rock’s course and, theoretically, saving millions of human lives.
Theoretically because, in this instance, the asteroid itself posed no threat to Earth — in fact, it wasn’t anywhere near the planet.
The asteroid Dimorphos was about 6.8 million miles from Earth, Smithsonian Magazine reported, when the Double Asteroid redirection Test spacecraft (DART) locked onto it and barreled into its side.
The DART spacecraft began its voyage toward Dimorphos on November 24, 2021. Monday night, live images of its approach were sent back to NASA scientists who cheered as the craft finally reached the end of its 10-month journey.
Virginia Representative Don Beyer, chair of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, tweeted that the mission was “a historic success for NASA… and a very important step forward…
