NASA's Historic DART Mission Successfully Hits Giant Asteroid Today

NASA DART mission successfully hit an asteroid. (photo: impact of screen/Imagery)

JAKARTA - NASA has successfully carried out a mission to accidentally hit the giant asteroid Dimorphos with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft.

From VOI's observations via NASA TV's live broadcast on YouTube, the camera aboard the DART craft captured a live view of the asteroid, which appears to be orbiting quietly.

IMPACT SUCCESS! Watch from #DARTMIssion’s DRACO Camera, as the vending machine-sized spacecraft successfully collides with asteroid Dimorphos, which is the size of a football stadium and poses no threat to Earth. pic.twitter.com/7bXipPkjWD

— NASA (@NASA) September 26, 2022

Minutes before the collision, the DART craft showed stunning detail of the space rock's uneven surface. Shortly thereafter the DART plane accelerated into the Dimorphos until the display on the camera disappeared.

When it collided with the Dimorphos, the DART plane was traveling at about 14,000 miles per hour. After that, it is estimated that Dimorphos will be pushed closer to Didymos, which is a larger asteroid.

Both are claimed not to pose a threat to Earth. The sound of cheers and applause was heard from NASA's live broadcast room, signaling the DART craft had completed its mission by hitting its target.

For information, the DART spacecraft itself was launched into space in November 2021, and has spent 10 months traveling to the asteroid.

Dimorphos is currently located about 6.8 million miles away from Earth. Most likely, NASA will release more details about this mission in the near future. After this mission, ground-based telescopes will be used to study Dimorphos.

Furthermore, the European Space Agency (ESA) is also scheduled to launch a mission in 2024, to study the impact craters on asteroids and Dimorphos and Didymos in more detail.