• The Double Asteroid Redirection Test launched 10 months ago on a one way trip to Dimorphos
• The DART spacecraft weighed 570kg and impact the 160m wide asteroid at 22 530kph
• The hope is that DART together with the NEO Surveyor will help protect Earth from rouge celestial bodies

On Monday evening, following a 10 month journey, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) took place.

The test saw NASA slamming a 570kg spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos which orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos. To be 100 percent clear, neither Dimorphos nor Didymos presented any danger to Earth, NASA was simply testing whether an impact would be enough to redirect an asteroid.

While NASA doesn’t know if it was able to successfully redirect the asteroid just yet, the fact that it managed to hit the asteroid at all is a notable achievement. The Dimorphos asteroid is tiny at 160m in diameter making hitting it rather impressive. That having been said, if Dimorphos ever hit Earth it would cause massive damage.

“Planetary Defense is a globally unifying effort that affects everyone living on Earth,” explains associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA HQ in Washington, Thomas Zurbuchen, “Now we know we can aim a spacecraft with the precision needed to impact even a small body in space. Just a small change in its speed is all we need to make a significant difference in the path an asteroid travels.”

The spacecraft housed a camera where it was able to beam its last few moments of operation live to Earth. The spacecraft hit the asteroid at 22 530kph and the hope is that the impact has shifted the asteroid’s orbital path. You can view images as well as a short video of the impact at this link. If you have a few hours to kill you can watch the full approach and impact below.

Following the impact, a global team will now use ground-based telescopes to watch the asteroid system to determine whether DART had an effect on the asteroid’s orbit.

Should it have made a reasonable impact, NASA is likely to make use of DART together with the Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEO Surveyor) to help protect Earth from celestial bodies.

As mentioned above, asteroids the size of Dimorphos, while relatively small, can cause incredible damage should they impact Earth. Many of the Near-Earth Objects in space are yet to be identified and given how tricky it is to see asteroids from Earth (as we can only see them at night), the threat of impact is almost constant. NEO Surveyor however would allow astronomers to observe Near-Earth Objects during the day as well.

We’re keen to see whether DART has worked, if it hasn’t perhaps we could hire some oil drillers to fly to an asteroid and deposit a bomb in its core. Could work.