The slightest change in the moonlet’s orbiting motion will offset the Didymos’ path. Scientists predict that by crashing into the smaller moonlet, and not the larger asteroid Didymos, they can more significantly change its orbit through the gravitational pull that the moonlet has. But why not send the spacecraft hurtling toward the large asteroid itself? Well, a few reasons. Today, DART will impact the moonlet Dimorphos at about 6.6km/s (14,768 mph) to change its orbit within the Didymos binary asteroid system. Illustration of how DART’s impact will alter the orbit of Dimorphos along with Didymos.Ĭredit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory A moonlet called Dimorphos of the non-Earth threatening asteroid Didymos located approximately 6.8 million miles from Earth. Since its launch in November of last year, the spacecraft has spent just over 9 months catching up to its target. What is DART?Īccording to NASA, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, “is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact.” WATCH LIVE: NASAs DART spacecraft crashes into an asteroid to test defense system PBS NewsHour 3.57M subscribers Subscribe 3. A composite image taken from the DART mission spacecraft of its target Dimorphos (left) and its companion asteroid Didymos (right). You can also view the event in real-time with ground-based telescopes on Virtual Telescope Project’s website.
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NASA will begin live coverage on NASA TV roughly an hour before, starting at 6 p.m. Now we’re just hours away from the scheduled collision. Here’s how you can watch it live.Įarlier this month, Space Explored shared that NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission had officially laid eyes on its target, an asteroid called Dimorphos, almost two football fields in diameter.
Today, NASA will deliberately crash a spacecraft into a near-Earth asteroid to try and change its motion and direction through space. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) is getting ready to make its final approach to Dimorphos, an asteroid that the spacecraft will collide with on Monday, September 26th.
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