Nasa will crash a spacecraft into a 160-metre-long asteroid in September. Here’s how to watch it
- The space agency’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos next month
- Nasa will live stream the event on NASA TV and on its website. It can also be viewed on Nasa’s social media accounts
Nasa is preparing for their Armageddon-like mission of crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid, and they want the public to watch live.
Asteroids frequently get close to hitting Earth, but it has been more than 65 million years since a catastrophic one has impacted our planet. Plus, there has been renewed interest in objects hurtling toward us since the popularity of the 2021 doomsday comedy Don’t Look Up and the 1998 films Armageddon and Deep Impact.
Luckily, Nasa will test out its plan in case it ever happens.
The space agency’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos, next month.
Scientists say neither asteroid is headed towards Earth, but with Dimorphos at an estimated 160 metres long, it is an asteroid that could cause significant damage if it were to hit Earth, Nasa says.
Regardless of the outcome, the mission will give astronomers and scientists “important data” on what the response would be should a dangerous asteroid have a collision course with Earth. There currently is no threat to us, scientists say.
