As a part of NASA’s overall planetary defense strategy, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) satellite successfully hit its target, a 160-meter asteroid.
The satellite had been flying in space for ten months before it crashed into the asteroid named Dimorphos.
DART was on a one-way trip to collide with and deflect the asteroid, a technique known as “kinetic impact.”
“At its core, DART represents an unprecedented success for planetary defense, but it is also a mission of unity with a real benefit for all humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Asteroids are rocky and metallic objects that orbit the sun. The asteroids come in various shapes and sizes and may pose a grave danger to our planet if they come in close orbit. However, the asteroid Dimorphos presented no risk to earth.
“Now we know we can aim a spacecraft with the precision needed to impact even a small body in space,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
