Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Sep 17, 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
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×