NASA is about to launch a spacecraft with one simple mission: Smash into an asteroid at 15,000 miles per hour.
The mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, leaves Earth early on Wednesday to test whether slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid can nudge it into a different trajectory. Results from the test, if successful, will come in handy if NASA and other space agencies ever need to deflect an asteroid to save Earth and avert a catastrophic impact.
When is the launch and how can I watch it?
The DART spacecraft is scheduled to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday at 1:20 a.m. Eastern time (or 10:20 p.m. local time) from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
NASA plans to host a livestream of the launch on its YouTube channel starting at 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
If bad weather around the Vandenberg launch site prompts a delay, the next opportunity…
