DART is coming to an end as the NASA craft is on a collision course with a small asteroid. You can watch the experiment to see how it goes.
The DART mission is the first test of impactor technology as a means of redirecting asteroids. One day, Didymos could be used to protect our planet from an asteroid. You can watch the action live on the internet.
The DART is going to hit the asteroid on Monday. There is an hour and a half later. NASA will live stream the event at a number of locations. You can listen to the NASA broadcast from here.
There will be live coverage of the mission. Audio from NASA's mission control, live commentary, as well as images beamed down by the spacecraft's onboard high-resolution camera, DRACO, will be included in the show.
NASA is giving a silent live feed from DRACO that will start at 5 pm. On NASA's media channel is live. Once it hits Dimorphos, DRACO will send one image per second back to ground controllers on Earth. You can watch the live stream below.
DART is speeding towards the asteroid at high speeds. According to NASA officials, it takes about eight seconds for the images to appear on the screen after they have been received and processed by mission control. It may take a few seconds to see that reflected in NASA's coverage if mission control declares an impact. We assume that the blank screen is a sign of the destruction of the spaceship.
NASA has a planetary defense test called DART. Its target is a small asteroid called Dimorphos, which is a mini-moon in size. The DART probe is going to hit Dimorphos in order to change its trajectory. The purpose of the test is to see if impactor technology can be used to stop asteroids from hitting us.
NASA keeps an eye on asteroids. We need a plan in place if an asteroid is headed towards our planet in the future. The test won't cause Didymos and Dimorphos to threaten our planet. They are approximately 11 million kilometers away from Earth.
Ground-based telescopes will be used by NASA to observe Dimorphos after it was hit by the spaceship. The event will be monitored by Europe's LICIACube with its two onboard cameras. The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the telescopes that will try to observe the event.
A follow-up mission to the pair of space rocks is planned by the European Space Agency, which will rendezvous with Didymos by 2026 to study the impact crater left behind by DART.
DART's POV will hopefully show a beautiful view of Dimorphos as it heads towards the asteroid. It will be a sad end to the mission, but data from it could lead to the tools needed to defend against dangerous asteroids.
George Dvorsky reported additional information.
NASA is going to mess up this tiny asteroid.
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