NASA are now less than two weeks away from conducting a historic experiment in space, where they will attempt to send a probe crashing into an asteroid.
Dimorphos is the target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) on September 26, that will see a $330 million spacecraft smashed into the 170-metre diameter rock. And it’s all in the name of global defence.
The ultimate aim is to change the asteroid’s trajectory. The theory is that if this experiment works – on an asteroid that poses no threat to Earth – then the technology could then be used in the future to target space rocks or comets that could be seen as potential hazards to our world.
