Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Oct 25, 2025

What you need to know about NASA’s dry run to save us from armageddon

NASA is launching a spacecraft the size of a golf cart to crash into an asteroid, which could tell us what to do if one ever did hit Earth.

NASA is launching an extraordinary mission on Wednesday to knock an asteroid slightly off course.

While it may sound like the plot to a science fiction film that ends in tragedy, this first real-world experiment is safe, scientists say.

A spacecraft the size of a golf cart will blast off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday at 10.20 pm PST (Wednesday 7 am CET) before travelling 10 months on a collision course with an asteroid.

Here is all you need to know about the mission, which is called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test).

Why do we need to knock into an asteroid?


The asteroid that will be knocked off course is six million miles away and is no threat to Earth now, scientists say, adding that the DART mission will not make it a danger either.

"First and foremost, these asteroids are not a threat to the Earth, They are no danger to earth,” said Nancy Chabot, DART coordination lead, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

“They are not on a path to hit the Earth in the foreseeable future. That makes them an appropriate target for a first test. But what really makes these asteroids ideal for this first test, it's because it's a double asteroid system," she said at a press conference.


While the asteroid and mission pose no threat to the planet, scientists want to see how its direction changes after being hit, so that if one day an asteroid is heading our way we may know what to do to avert disaster.

"The DART mission is about demonstrating deflection of an asteroid, changing its course, and doing it by hitting it with a spacecraft,” said Andy Cheng, DART investigation team lead, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory during a press conference.

“So the DART spacecraft has to hit the asteroid, then DART has to measure the amount of deflection and then we want to understand why that deflection came about, how it works. So, it's all about measuring the momentum transfer," he added.

Scientists say this could help in the future.


What will happen on the mission?


A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry DART into space, which will head to the asteroid Didymos, which circles the sun just outside of Earth's orbital path.

DART will spend about 10 months travelling towards the asteroid. But DART will crash into Didymos’s smaller asteroid called Dimophos at a speed of approximately 6.6 km/s.

In short, the spacecraft will aim for the larger asteroid to orient itself and in the final hour will detect and switch course towards the smaller one.

Researchers will then be able to measure changes in the orbital relationship between Dimorphos and Didymos, which will help them to calculate how this tactic could divert an asteroid from hitting Earth.

Could an asteroid hit Earth one day?


NASA has tracked almost all of the asteroids that could be large enough to damage Earth. But while there are no big asteroids heading our way in the foreseeable future that could change life as we know it, there are smaller ones that have yet to be found that have the potential to wipe out a city.

The DART mission could help prevent that.


"If one day an asteroid is discovered on a collision course with Earth - and we have an idea of how big that asteroid is, and how fast it's coming, and when it would hit, that kind of information - then we will have an idea how much momentum we need to make that asteroid miss the Earth," Cheng said.

NASA says while no known asteroid larger than 140 m in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40 percent of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021.

What happens after the mission?


In 2024, the European Space Agency is expected to launch another mission to travel to the two asteroids and will observe the crater on Dimorphos and determine the mass of the asteroid.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×