- Antarctica Journal - https://www.antarcticajournal.com -

Asteroid Deflection Mission Launched By NASA

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NASA has initiated the DART mission, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. It was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California to study the effects of asteroid deflection as a method to save the Earth from future devastating collisions by asteroids.

The big question…. If an asteroid is pummeling towards Earth, can humanity be saved with a simple nudge?

NASA is studying just that with a first-of-its-kind mission to deflect an asteroid by intentionally crashing a spacecraft into it. The mission offers a rare, real-world chance to test a planetary defense strategy that could protect Earth from a potentially catastrophic event in the future.

The DART mission, costing upwards of $325 million, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The spacecraft rode into orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The asteroid deflection mission will help researchers learn more about DART’s target. However, the scientific aspect isn’t the goal of the mission, which was sponsored by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. The DART mission is different from your typical science mission where the objective is to publish as many scientific papers as possible. The main purpose is to demonstrate a technique to save the world in the event of an asteroid heading towards Earth.