NASA reveals plans to crash a moon into an asteroid — here’s what you need to know.
On Tuesday, NASA released details about its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
What are darts?
NASA says DART is the world‘s first mission to test technologies that protect Earth from potential asteroids or comets.
For this mission, NASA will deliberately crash a spacecraft into an asteroid called Dimorphos to change its direction away from Earth.
The test will show that the spacecraft can navigate autonomously in a way that can be measured using ground-based telescopes.
DART will provide vital data to help better prepare for asteroids that could pose a risk to Earth.
When is the mission?
The mission will take place on Monday, September 26 at 7:14 PM ET or 4:14 PM PT.
NASA’s pre-briefing will be held at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland at 6 p.m. ET.
How to watch DART missions
Users interested in watching the groundbreaking mission can tune in to NASA TV at 6 p.m. ET.
The agency’s website and social media accounts (Facebook, Twitterand YouTube) will also report on the mission.
DART’s kinetic collision with asteroid Dimorphos expected at 7:14pm
Dimorphos pose no danger to Earth and will be used by NASA for research purposes only.