Double Asteroid Redirection Test

space mission · planetary defense · asteroids

A crash test in space. NASA sent a spacecraft called DART to smash into an asteroid called Dimorphos on purpose. The crash happened in September 2022, and it worked way better than scientists expected, pushing the asteroid slightly off its path.

Hitting the smaller target. Dimorphos is a moonlet, which is a small moon orbiting a bigger asteroid called Didymos. Scientists chose this pair because even if the crash moved them, they would never threaten Earth.

Protecting our planet. The mission tested whether we could defend Earth from dangerous asteroids by changing their direction. If a giant space rock ever heads toward us, now we know we might be able to knock it out of the way.

Measuring the impact. The DART spacecraft was small, weighing about as much as a large refrigerator, but it moved the asteroid enough to be spotted by telescopes on Earth. This proved that even a relatively small impact can make a real difference.