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 is the first of its kind to intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid, Dimorphos, to test planetary defense technology.
The mission aims to alter Dimorphos's orbit around its larger companion, Didymos, by a small margin, demonstrating a potential method for deflecting future hazardous asteroids.
DART will debut several new technologies, including an autonomous navigation system, an ion propulsion system, and advanced solar arrays, contributing to future space missions and planetary defense capabilities.

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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.