Nasa spaceship smashes asteroid in Earth defense test: NASA claims that a mission to push a far-off asteroid off track was successful, demonstrating a viable new strategy for protecting Earth against hazardous space rocks that scientists may discover in the future.
According to NASA experts, the DART spacecraft, which smashed the asteroid last month, was able to change the course of its moving target.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters at a news conference that the agency has “proved that we are serious as a protector of the Earth.”
On September 26, a spacecraft about the size of a refrigerator collided with an asteroid dubbed Dimorphos at a speed of 14,000 miles per hour. Dimorphous, an asteroid about the size of a football stadium, revolves around Didymos, an enormous asteroid.
Dimorphous orbited Didymos about every 11 hours and 55 minutes before the collision. However, based on astronomical studies, Nasa reported that the orbit is now 11 hours and 23 minutes after the crash, a 32-minute shift.
Dimorphous use as a target asteroid to demonstrate this deflection method; it never posed a threat to Earth.