NASA DART mission: Spacecraft slams into asteroid 9.6 million kilometres away

Tags: Science and Technology

In NASA's Dart space mission, the Dart spacecraft successfully collided with an asteroid in space on 27 September. The purpose of this mission was to change the direction and speed of the asteroid.

Important facts

• NASA's spacecraft collided with the asteroid at a speed of 22500 kilometers per hour in space.

• Through this test, NASA wanted to see whether the direction of an asteroid coming towards Earth could be changed or not.

• The asteroid that the spacecraft collided with is named Dimorphos.

• Dimorphos orbits around another asteroid, the asteroid Didymos.

• The purpose of this program is to see that if a dangerous asteroid comes towards Earth, it can be destroyed or its direction can be diverted.

• Now scientists will keep an eye on the speed and movement of the asteroid for the next two months, it will be calculated. Only after this will get accurate information about how successful NASA has been in trying to change the path of the asteroid.

• NASA has recorded more than 8000 Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) around the Earth.

• Some of these are larger than 460 feet in diameter, if they hit the earth, they can destroy many cities.

About NASA DART Mission

• 'DART' is a low cost spacecraft.

• This is a technique that can prevent an asteroid from hitting the Earth.

• Its purpose is to test a technology that can change the direction of incoming asteroids towards Earth.

• The purpose of this mission is to test new technology to be prepared in the event of an asteroid coming towards Earth in the future.