NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test live: DART spacecraft crashing into Dimorphos
NASA says that its DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft is scheduled to collide with the asteroid Dimorphos at approximately 7.14 PM EDT on September 26 (4.44 AM on September 27). The mission will be the first to test a “kinetic impactor” method of planetary defence, which involves changing the trajectory of asteroids that threaten Earth crashing a high-speed spacecraft into it.
Dimorphos does not pose a threat to earth but the data obtained from DART’s crash with it will be compared to the data from various computer simulations run scients to ascertain whether this kinetic impactor method will remain a viable option in case of an actual threatening asteroid. Scients don’t yet know the exact mass of Dimorphos but it is estimated to be around five billion kilograms. The DART spacecraft weighs around 600 kilograms. NASA scients use the analogy of a “golf cart crashing into the Great Pyramid” to describe the crash. In the event of an actual threat, this kinetic impactor method will have to be implemented years or even decades before the predicted crash time in order to meaningfully change the trajectory of the asteroid that threatens the Earth.
NASA’s livestream of the DART mission will start at 6 PM EDT on September 26 (3.30 AM on September 27. You can watch it on NASA TV, NASA’s mobile app, its YouTube channel or through the window above. You can read live updates below.
