In 2022, a probe was sent crashing into an asteroid as part of a “planetary defence” test. This Monday, the second part of the mission flies off to study the consequences of the impact.
Articles on DART mission
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NASA’s DART was the first time we tried planetary defence – attempting to redirect an asteroid. The data from this landmark mission is still yielding new insights today.
Five new studies show smashing spacecraft into asteroids could be a viable way to defend Earth from threatening space rocks.
With a diameter between 1.1km and 2.3km, asteroid 2022 AP7 is the largest potentially hazardous asteroid found since 2014.
DART has forever changed the orbit of a small asteroid – and done so with much greater success than expected.
The first ever planetary defence test is about to take place 11 million kilometres from Earth. All we can do is wait and see.
