{"id":36898,"date":"2022-09-21T08:33:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T08:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=112152"},"modified":"2022-09-21T08:51:15","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T08:51:15","slug":"watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch NASA\u2019s DART spacecraft asteroid impact live"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Nancy Chabot\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 21 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

On 26 September at 19:14 EDT (23:14 UTC), NASA\u2019s DART mission will purposely crash into the asteroid Dimorphos. Its aim is to find out if deflection could save Earth from future impacts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission<\/a> is a very exciting first step for planetary defence.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a NASA mission that\u2019s built and managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab<\/a> that is purposely crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid to change its motion slightly.<\/p>\n

Where to watch the NASA DART mission online<\/strong><\/h2>\n
You can live stream DART\u2019s impact event via NASA TV in the window below:<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\""p1"\">The purpose of the DART mission<\/strong><\/h2>\nDART is just one part of a much larger planetary defence strategy. Key to that strategy is finding <a href=\""https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/asteroids\/"\">asteroids<\/a> ahead of time.<\/p>\nIf one was ever discovered to be on course with Earth, this method could potentially deflect it.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re not blowing up the asteroid. Rather, we give it a small nudge, which changes its orbit ever so slightly.<\/p>\nWhen you do this years in advance, it adds up over time so that the asteroid and Earth aren\u2019t on a collision course in the future.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s important to say that the Dimorphus asteroid is not a threat to Earth: this is just a test. But it\u2019s an important first step.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\""p1"\">Which asteroid will DART impact?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\""image-handlercontainer\" image-handlercontainer--full=\"\" style=\""padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=300%2C178,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=300%2C178,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=355%2C211,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=355%2C211,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=405%2C241,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=405%2C241,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=554%2C329,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=554%2C329,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=620%2C368"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C368"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=408%2C242,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=408%2C242,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=556%2C330,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=556%2C330,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><img class=\""wp-image-112138\" align=\"\" size-full=\"\" image-handlerimage=\"\" image-handlerimage--full=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-didymos-orbit-change-580fda5.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C368"\" width=\""1200"\" height=\""713"\" alt=\"""\" title=\"""\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\""caption-hold"\"><figcaption class=\""wp-caption-text"\"> The intention of the DART impact is to alter the orbit that the moon Dimorphos takes around asteroid Didymos. The event will be witnessed by the LICIACube satellite. Credit: NASA\/Johns Hopkins APL<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nDART\u2019s target is actually a double asteroid. The largest one is named Didymos and has a moon that orbits around it, Dimorphos.<\/p>\nDART is targeting that small moon. It\u2019s just going to change how it goes around the much larger asteroid ever so slightly.<\/p>\nThe fact that it\u2019s a double asteroid is key to enabling the mission. We want to know how much we deflected the asteroid, but the spacecraft will be totally destroyed.<\/p>\nInstead, we\u2019ll use telescopes here on Earth. These have already been studying this double asteroid system for decades.<\/p>\nWe know it takes 11 hours and 55 minutes for Dimorphos to go around Didymos right now.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re going to turn back to those telescopes after the impact and they\u2019ll tell us how much we changed the orbit time.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s going to be small, maybe about a 1% change, which may be about 10 minutes or so.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\""p1"\">What will we see during the impact?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nDART is a really focused mission, but it has a camera named DRACO (Didymos Reconnaissance Asteroid Camera for Optical Navigation).<\/p>\nIt has two purposes.<\/p>\nFirst is to see the asteroid. This asteroid is 160m in diameter and we\u2019re targeting it very fast \u2013 22,500km\/h.<\/p>\nIn fact, because Dimorphos is so close to Didymos, you can\u2019t actually distinguish them until the last hour of the mission.<\/p>\nSo DART has to autonomously detect Dimorphos, fire its thrusters and use those DRACO images to ensure an effective collision.<\/p>\nThe second purpose is to stream images back during its final moments.<\/p>\n<div class=\""image-handlercontainer\" image-handlercontainer--full=\"\" style=\""padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=300%2C200,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=300%2C200,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=355%2C237,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=355%2C237,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=405%2C270,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=405%2C270,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=554%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=554%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=408%2C272,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=408%2C272,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=556%2C371,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=556%2C371,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><img class=\""wp-image-112161\" align=\"\" size-full=\"\" image-handlerimage=\"\" image-handlerimage--full=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/09\/dart-draco-camera-61eea69.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" width=\""1200"\" height=\""800"\" alt=\"""\" title=\"""\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\""caption-hold"\"><figcaption class=\""wp-caption-text"\"> DART scientists install the spacecraft\u2019s Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO), June 2021. Credit: NASA\/Johns Hopkins APL\/Ed Whitman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<h2 class=\""p1"\">Will we see DART\u2019s impact from Earth?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nThe telescopes that we\u2019re going to use to make this precise measurement of how much we deflected the asteroid have to be state-of-the-art facilities.<\/p>\nThat said, the distance between Didymos and Earth is minimised during impact to around 17.7 million kilometres, so it will be shining at about magnitude +15.0.<\/p>\nIf you have a back garden telescope equipped with a <a href=\""https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/top-astronomy-kit\/best-ccd-cameras-astrophotography\/"\">CCD camera<\/a> or other imaging system, you won\u2019t be able to make out Dimorphos or the impact itself, but you might be able to capture an image of where Didymos is in the sky.<\/p>\nI definitely encourage people to give that a try.<\/p>\nWe\u2019ll also be sharing the whole kinetic impact event live on <a href=\"\/\/www.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/nasatv\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">NASA TV<\/a> on 26 September, showing those final images from the DRACO camera until they stop.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s going to be a historic event we get to witness together.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Astronauts\" show=\"\" how=\"\" nasa=\"\" dart=\"\" mission=\"\" will=\"\" change=\"\" an=\"\" asteroid=\"\" motion=\"\" in=\"\" space=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wFHce6TXVTQ?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<h2 class=\""p1"\">Could DART make the asteroid a threat to Earth?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nThis is one of the beauties of this mission. We\u2019re just knocking Dimorphos\u2019s orbit ever so slightly closer to the much larger Didymos.<\/p>\nIt doesn\u2019t change how that asteroid system goes around the Sun in any measurable manner, and hence there\u2019s no danger to Earth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m excited about the DART mission. We\u2019re taking something from Hollywood blockbusters, asteroid deflection, and making it so we can live in a future where we might have this capability going forward.<\/p>\nAnd it\u2019s not just fiction, but reality. We\u2019re ready and it\u2019s going to be an exciting year to come.<\/p>\nThis article originally appeared in the September 2022 issue of <\/strong><\/em>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Nancy Chabot Published: Wednesday, 21 September 2022 at 12:00 am On 26 September at 19:14 EDT (23:14 UTC), NASA\u2019s DART mission will purposely crash into the asteroid Dimorphos. Its aim is to find out if deflection could save Earth from future impacts. The DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission is a very exciting first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36899,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live-scaled.jpg",2560,1440,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live-1024x576.jpg",800,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live-1536x864.jpg",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/watch-nasas-dart-spacecraft-asteroid-impact-live-2048x1152.jpg",2048,1152,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Nancy Chabot Published: Wednesday, 21 September 2022 at 12:00 am On 26 September at 19:14 EDT (23:14 UTC), NASA\u2019s DART mission will purposely crash into the asteroid Dimorphos. Its aim is to find out if deflection could save Earth from future impacts. The DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission is a very exciting first…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}