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Is NASA Really Crashing a\h
Spacecraft into an Asteroid?

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We Asked a NASA Scientist.

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Yes, NASA really is crashing a spacecraft into\h
an asteroid. That spacecraft is DART, the Double

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Asteroid Redirection Test. Now, asteroids hit the\h
Earth all of the time. Luckily, the ones that are

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big enough to cause widespread damage are pretty\h
rare and none are expected in the near future.

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NASA and others are actively tracking asteroids,\h
but also we haven't found all of them yet.

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So, it makes sense to do this first test\h
to demonstrate if we needed to protect the

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Earth what might we do. And we should do this test\h
before we need it. That's where DART comes in.

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DART is a spacecraft that's about the size of a vending\h
machine. And it has really long solar arrays that

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stick out. And it's going to be traveling really\h
fast — about 15,000 miles per hour. And it's going

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to slam into this target asteroid that's about\h
the size of the Great Pyramid. So, slamming this

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smaller spacecraft into this larger asteroid isn't\h
going to destroy it, but it will deflect it. It's going to

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give it a small little nudge and that will ever\h
so slightly change that asteroid's future path.

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If you wanted to do this, you would want to do it\h
years in advance such that the asteroid and the

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Earth weren't on a collision course in the future.\h
So, is NASA crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid?

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Yes, NASA really is. In the name of planetary\h
defense in order to be ready in case we need it.