Two weeks ago, NASA rammed an uncrewed spaceship into an asteroid to see if it could change the asteroid's trajectory to avoid hitting Earth.
NASA diverted its path after it collided with an asteroid.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test shaved a larger-than- expected 32 minutes off the time the asteroid Dimorphos takes to travel to Didymos.
NASA has been using telescopes on Earth to keep an eye on the asteroid after it was rammed by a craft.
A change of just 73 seconds would have been enough to shorten Dimorphos' time in the sky.
The agency's focus is now on analyzing the effects of the crash, including how much of the asteroid was flung into the air. A paper written by scientists at the University of Bern in Switzerland was published in the Planetary Science Journal.
NASA's DART is on a path to Dimorphos, which poses no threat to Earth, because it was launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base. The cost to build the asteroid was $330 million, according to the report. The goal of the mission was to see if crashing an object into an asteroid can change the asteroid's path. Although NASA doesn't know of any asteroids larger than 500 feet that have a chance of colliding with Earth over the next 100 years, the DART program could be a life-saving initiative. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it was an "anchor point" for future tests on the impact of a spaceship on an asteroid.
We have a responsibility to protect our planet. Nelson said that it's the only one they have. The mission shows that NASA is prepared for anything that comes their way.
NASA successfully crashes spacecraft into a asteroid to practice protecting the planet.
Scientists say NASA's plan to deflect an asteroid could leave its target unrecognizable.
The spacecraft that will collide with an asteroid is experimental.
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