NASA starting a Test that could Someday Save the Earth!

In an effort to prevent an asteroid from impacting Earth in the future, today (11-23-2021) NASA is launching a test spacecraft to a non-threatening asteroid to nudge it off it's path. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test - or DART - spacecraft is heading toward Didymos and its moon. Space expert Keith Cowing saying "If they get this right, and they can see that they can divert the path of an asteroid, it will be very important to know. Maybe there's something as simple as hitting, or 'nudging,' an asteroid with a spacecraft may be the easiest way of taking care of this threat."

Cowing says, "They have found an asteroid that is not on a path to hit Earth - but it is similar to ones that may come close at some point." The test plan is for the spacecraft to travel to Didymos for the next 11 months and on October 2nd next year hit it's moon and nudge Didymos off course. This could come in handy in the future as over 25,000 near-Earth objects have been discovered.

photo:GettyImages