Aimed to test humanity's abilities of stopping a cosmic object from ending life on Earth, NASA's historic mission of crashing a spaceship into an asteroid has emerged successful in the first-ever "planetary defence test". This mission was NASA's first attempt to alter a celestial body's movement. It was done to prove that it is possible to change the course of any future space rock that can threaten to obliterate Earth.
The test has been compared with the Hollywood movie 'Armageddon' in which they sent a $325 million spacecraft known as DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) to a kamikaze journey lasting for 10 months. In the early hours of today, DART ploughed into the Dimorphos asteroid that is about the size of a football stadium. DART, on the other hand, was about the size of a huge fridge moving at a speed of 14,000 mph.
During mission control in Maryland, engineers shared high-fives while an announcer declared that they had impact in the name of planetary defence. NASA's planetary science division director said that they were embarking upon a new era for the mankind.
The camera fixed in the spaceship DRACO released very clear images of the asteroid, only seconds before the huge impact, at one second intervals. The images showed the rugged surface of Dimorphos, which then filled the screen, followed by an abrupt ending in the radio signal. The cosmic collision took place seven million miles away from the Earth.
According to scientists, this impact would have caused a crater, while also hurdling streams of dirt and rocks into space. It will take days or probably weeks to find the degree of deviation caused in the asteroid's path.
