admin NASA spacecraft crashed into an asteroid at lightning speed on Monday as a practice manoeuvre in case an unprecedented planet killer rock threatens Earth.
The galactic ramming occurred 7 million miles (11.3 million kilometres) away against a harmless asteroid. The spacecraft, aptly named Dart, ploughed into the space rock at a blistering speed of 14,000 mph (22,500 kph). Scientists hoped that the impact would carve out a crater, launch streams of debris like rocks and dirt into space and, most importantly, change the orbit of the asteroid.
Elena Adams, Mission Control, was jubilant at the crash as she practically jumped up and down, arms in the air, announcing “We have an impact!”
The world turned their telescopes and aimed at that portion of space where the crash happened to capture the spectacle. Although the impact was instantaneous and immediately obvious — inferred by the radio silence from Dart — it will still take as long as a couple of months to identify how much the path of the asteroid was changed, if at all.
The mission, which cost $325 million, is the first attempt to change the position of an asteroid or any other natural object in space.
Adams was confident about the mission, calling it a success. “As far as we can tell, our first planetary defence test was a success,” Adams later told a news conference, as the room filled with applause. “I think Earthlings should sleep better. Definitely, I will.”
Bill Nelson, the NASA Administrator, had to remind people via Twitter earlier in the day that, “No, this is not a science fiction movie plot.” He added in a video that was pre recorded: ”We have all seen it in movies like “Armageddon,” and, more recently “Don’t Look Up”, however the stakes in real life are seriously high.”
Monday’s target: a 525-foot (160-metre) asteroid named Dimorphous. It’s a moonlet of Didymos, Greek for twin, a fast-spinning asteroid five times bigger that flung off the material that formed the junior partner.
The pair have been orbiting the sun for aeons without threatening Earth, making them ideal save-the-world test candidates.
Magazine 
