NASA will crash a spacecraft right into a 525-foot-wide asteroid in September. Here’s the way to watch it

NASA is getting ready for his or her “Armageddon”-like mission of crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid, they usually need the general public to look at reside.

Asteroids regularly get near hitting Earth, but it surely’s been over 65 million years since a catastrophic one has impacted our planet. Plus, there’s been renewed curiosity in objects hurtling towards us because the recognition of the 2021 doomsday comedy “Don’t Look Up.”

Luckily, NASA will check out its plan in case it ever occurs.

The space company’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits a bigger asteroid named Didymos, subsequent month. Scientists say neither asteroid is headed in the direction of Earth, however with Dimorphos at an estimated 520 toes lengthy, it’s an asteroid that would trigger important harm if it had been to hit Earth, NASA says.

Regardless of the result, the mission will give astronomers and scientists “important data” on what the response can be ought to a harmful asteroid have a collision course with Earth. There presently is not any risk to us, scientists say.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where an asteroid is headed toward Earth and then have to be testing this kind of capability. We want to know about both how the spacecraft works and what the reaction will be by the asteroid to the impact before we ever get in a situation like that,” Lindley Johnson, planetary protection officer for NASA, mentioned in November.

When will DART hit the asteroid Dimorphos?

DART will full its 10-month journey via space on Sept. 26 at roughly 7:14 p.m. ET. NASA’s reside protection of the occasion will start at 6 p.m. ET.

Ten days beforehand, DART will launch a tiny statement spacecraft that may seize the collision.

Where can I watch the DART mission affect?

NASA will reside stream the occasion on NASA TV and their web site. It can be seen on their social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

What will DART do?

The collision will occur about 6.8 million miles from Earth. Coming in at 15,000 miles per hour, DART will not destroy Dimorphos, however “give it a small nudge.” Doing so will have an effect on the asteroids orbit by about 1%, which might be sufficient to divert one from Earth.

“It’s such an exciting mission,” Andy Cheng, lead investigator of DART, mentioned in November. “It’s unbelievable.”

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