5 Things to Know About This Week’s Asteroid Mission

NASA is hurling a spacecraft at a passing asteroid to try and change its course.

Monday, November 22, 2021 at 04:48 PM ET

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Illustration of NASA’s DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LICIACube prior to impact at the Didymos binary system. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

Key Takeaways:

NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission will intentionally crash a spacecraft into Dimorphos, a moonlet asteroid, to test a planetary defense strategy.
This historic mission aims to subtly alter the asteroid's trajectory, demonstrating the feasibility of deflecting potentially hazardous objects from Earth.
DART will debut new technologies, including an autonomous navigation system and advanced propulsion, in this first-ever attempt to change an asteroid's course.

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NASA’s DART mission launch window opens early Wednesday morning, hoping to collide with an asteroid as it passes Earth. Here are five things you need to know about this historic operation:

1. The Plan

While it may seem like an absurd idea, NASA is planning to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid as it passes Earth. The DART spacecraft itself is 100 times smaller than its intended target, but will make its impact at approximately 6.6 km/s, or nearly 15,000 mph.