NASA just crashed its $488 million DART spaceship into an asteroid: WATCH THE VIDEO

NASA has succeeded in deliberately crashing a $488 million spacecraft into an asteroid - now it remains for the international team of scientists to determine if the force of impact has changed the asteroid's course.

In the world’s first mission to test Earth-defending technology, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) finally reached impact after launching November 23, 2021.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Asteroid impact occurred right on schedule at September 27, 9:14am, AEST*, as scenes of jubilation erupted at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

While no known asteroid larger than 140m in size has a significant chance of hitting Earth for the next 100 years, NASA said that as of October 2021, it had only been able to locate about 40 per cent of them.

WHY DID NASA CONDUCT THE DART?

On February 15, 2013, Russia experienced a mid-sky asteroid explosion known as Chelyabinsk. Its shockwaves* led to 1500 people injured, shattered windows and damaged buildings in six Russian cities.

The asteroid was about 20m in diameter, which NASA considered relatively small.

In a bid to prevent further and more devastating asteroid impacts, NASA developed the DART to see if it was possible to alter an asteroid’s course by crashing a spacecraft into it.

While various blockbuster movie plots are unlikely to become reality, establishing whether it’s possible would be a vital discovery.

WHAT WAS THE TARGET OF DART?

Some 11 million km away from Earth floats a binary* asteroid system named Didymos, meaning “twin” in Greek, which was the target of the crash.

According to NASA, Didymos was the ideal candidate* for humankind’s first planetary defence experiment. While not on a collision course with Earth – and therefore posing no threat to the planet – the system’s two-asteroid composition* was an interesting variable* to scientists.

The larger asteroid of the pair, named Didymos, is 780m in diameter, 39 times larger than the asteroid in Chelyabinsk. The system’s smaller asteroid, which orbits Didymos, is named Dimorphos and measures 160m.

Scientists have established that it has previously taken Dimorphos 11hr and 55 min to complete a single orbit around Didymos, and the asteroids have historically been 1.18 km apart.

The DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos on September 27 nearly head-on, with the aim of shortening the time it takes the smaller asteroid to orbit Didymos by several minutes. The effect on the asteroid's orbit time is not yet known as it is too soon for scientists to confirm.

According to NASA, the DART’s target asteroid was not a threat to Earth, but rather offered a testing ground to establish if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should an Earth-threatening asteroid ever head toward our planet.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MORNING OF TUESDAY 27 SEPTEMBER?

Impact images were streamed back to Earth via LICIACube, a satellite provided by the Italian Space Agency. The briefcase-size satellite travelled behind the spacecraft and recorded the collision.

Scientists are now using ground-based telescopes to observe whether or not Dimorphos’s orbit has now changed, and if so, by how much.

Essentially, the data collated* following this successful test will contribute to NASA’s planetary defence strategies if and when an asteroid looks to be headed for Earth.

There are two ways to watch replays of this historic event: on NASA’s website (nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public) or on the space agency’s official YouTube channel (youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ).

ARE WE RETURNING TO THE MOON?

After two recent launch attempts were cancelled, first on August 29 and again on September 3, a third attempt scheduled for September 27, the same day as the DART impact, has now been called off due to weather. NASA confirmed it "continues to closely monitor the weather forecast associated with Tropical Storm Ian".

Once conditions allow, the rescheduled Artemis* I mission will see the historic launch of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lift off for the first time from the new NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence on the moon for decades to come.

While the initial launch is to demonstrate the spacecraft’s systems in a space environment and to ensure a safe re-entry back into the Earth’s atmosphere, the second mission, Artemis II, is set to include a crew. NASA has stated its goal is to send a more ethnically and gender-diverse crew to the moon.

GLOSSARY

• asteroid: rocky objects that orbit the sun like planets but are much smaller
• AEST: Australian Eastern Standard Time
• shockwaves: areas of very high pressure moving through air, earth, or water, caused by an explosion or earthquake
• binary: relating to or consisting of two things
• candidate: seen as suitable or appropriate
• composition: way in which the parts of something are arranged
• Dimorphos: from the Greek word meaning “having two forms”
• variable: able or likely to change, shifting, unstable
• collated: gathered, accumulated, collected, brought together and combined
• Artemis: from Ancient Greek mythology, the goddess of the moon, the hunt and fertility

EXTRA READING

NASA to shoot rocket at asteroid

NASA charts course of risky asteroid

Space junk on collision course with moon

NASA prepares to return to the moon

QUICK QUIZ

1. What does DART stand for?
2. Name the two asteroids in the binary system that is the DART target?
3. These asteroids pose no threat to Earth, so why is NASA targeting them?
4. Shockwaves after the 2013 Chelyabinsk asteroid explosion led to what?
5. At the time of DART’s impact with Dimorphos, what will scientists on Earth do?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Asteroid movie scene
This news story compares the idea of crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid to a “blockbuster movie plot”. Write a script for a movie scene where this happens. Think about how to make your script dramatic and suspenseful.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Drama

2. Extension
Create a storyboard to go with your script to show what the scene will look like.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Drama; Visual Arts

VCOP ACTIVITY
Look out, asteroids!
Imagine if this were an asteroid headed to Earth and that it needed to be stopped by this crash attempt. Write a space commentary about the importance of the crash being effective, build suspense in the moments leading to impact, and write about the outcome – did it work or is the asteroid still on a crash course with Earth?

Build suspense through short, sharp sentences. Include emotive language to explain the importance of the mission and the outcome. Check over your work to ensure it makes sense and reads well, before sharing with a classmate.