NASA DART Mission LIVE! Watch as spacecraft collides with asteroid

NASA is planning to conduct the first test of its DART Mission in a bid to bolster planetary defense against stray asteroids that head for impact with Earth. The mission will cost a staggering $240 million. According to NASA, the DART Mission spacecraft will collide with its target asteroid Dimorphos on September 26. The DART mission has already launched the main spacecraft in November, 2021. It includes a satellite made by the Italian Space Agency. Another spacecraft is set to launch by 2026, to measure the impact.

Speaking about the DART Mission, NASA said, “DART is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact.” The aim of the mission is to smash a spacecraft into the Dimorphos asteroid to deflect it away from its path. This test will help scientists gain greater knowledge as to what happens when a craft is crashed against a space rock. This knowledge will be used if an actual asteroid threatens to crash against the Earts to save humanity from a tragedy, even extinction.

After the collision, the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft will fly to the asteroid to survey the aftermath of impact and gather information such as the size of impact crater, the mass of the asteroid and its make-up and internal structure.

How to watch DART Mission livestream

Although the collision between the DART spacecraft and the Dimorphos asteroid will take place nearly 11 million kilometers away in space, NASA has sent a smaller spacecraft with a camera that will record the entire event.

The collision is going to take place on September 26 at 4:44 AM IST (7:14 PM ET). The livestream will begin at 3:30 AM IST (6 PM ET). To watch the event, you can go to NASA’s official website, YouTube channel as well as Facebook and Twitter handls. The Virtual Telescope Project will also livestream the event.