The mission of the $330 million project is to slam into a 530-foot asteroid, Dimorphos, at about 15,000 mph in late September 2022 to test a potential method of defense against potentially catastrophic asteroid or comet hazards. The space agency said in a statement the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) lifted off late Tuesday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vanderberg Space Force Base in California. NASA has launched the world’s first “full-scale mission” to test asteroid-deflecting technology in hopes of protecting Earth from potential “Armageddon.” Latest study says there’s no trace of life in 4-billion-year-old meteorite from Mars NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover runs into another snag: pebbles "We might be testing other techniques or other ways to possibly deflect an asteroid," he said.New space telescope reaches final stop million miles out Until that happens, NASA plans do to additional tests like this one in the future. Johnson said the reason to do this now is in case of an object that has never been detected suddenly approaches Earth. In order for an asteroid or comet to be considered a Near-Earth object, it needs to come within 120.8 million miles of our planet. We want to know about both how the spacecraft works and what the reaction will be by the asteroid to the impact before we ever get in a situation like that," Johnson said.Ĭurrently, there are over 27,000 Near-Earth objects in our solar system, 891 of which are at least the same size as Didymos, according to NASA. "We don't want to be in a situation where an asteroid is headed toward Earth and then have to be testing this kind of capability. The team that spoke with the media on Thursday reiterated there are no threats of an asteroid that could cause significant damage in the immediate future, and that this is all about being prepared. Hate seeing snakes?: Blame the asteroids that killed the dinosaurs, scientists say 'Peace and Love': NASA spacecraft named Lucy rockets into the sky with diamonds Near-Earth object passing now: Several asteroids bigger than Great Pyramid of Giza will approach Earth in coming weeks A camera will be deployed by the spacecraft before impact to provide visuals of the mission, and scientists will be able to see the effects of it through telescopes. There are many questions NASA hopes will be answered by the impact, such as how much momentum is needed to nudge an asteroid, how fast will it move after the impact, if debris will go in multiple directions and if the material the asteroid is made up of matters. "You would just give this asteroid a small nudge, which would add up to a big change in its future position, and then the asteroid and Earth wouldn't be on the collision course," Chabot said. That may seem small, but if an asteroid were to head toward Earth, the technology used could make all the difference. Nancy Chabot, lead coordinator for DART, said giving Dimorphos a nudge will affect its orbit around Didymos by about 1%. The DART system is significantly smaller than Dimorphos, and unlike in "Armageddon," the plan isn't to completely destroy it, but rather "give it a small nudge." If the November launch goes according to plan, the DART spacecraft will embark on a nearly yearlong journey to the asteroids at roughly 15,000 miles per hour, and is expected to approach them around Sept. 26-Oct. 1, 2022. Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer for NASA, said the total cost of the mission, from its inception to the year-long observations after the impact, will cost NASA around $330 million. If the launch gets delayed later in November, the team has a window to launch by Feb. However, the two asteroids were picked by NASA because they say they poses no real threat to Earth.Įlena Adams, an engineer for DART, said the system has been in development for the past five years. In 2003, it came around 4.5 million miles close to Earth. Didymos' orbit around the sun comes relatively close to our planet, making it a Near-Earth object.