By Jim Hoft
Earth’s ability to withstand an asteroid strike or comet hazard was put to the test for the first time as a NASA spacecraft collided with a non-hazardous asteroid in the ‘world’s first planetary defense test.’
“This is only a test – of planetary defense. Today, our DART Mission is set to crash into a non-hazardous asteroid to test deflection technology, should we ever discover a threat,” NASA wrote on Twitter.
Watch the video:
🛰️ This is only a test – of planetary defense. Today, our #DARTMission is set to crash into a non-hazardous asteroid to test deflection technology, should we ever discover a threat.
Impact: 7:14pm ET (23:14 UTC). Watch our LIVE broadcast at 6pm ET: https://t.co/VAfF5ZXcYB pic.twitter.com/czGqnYJIGJ
— NASA (@NASA) September 26, 2022