Home

News

NASA's launching a one-way mission to crash into a moonlet: Here's how to watch.

By Mindy Weisberger 19 November 2021

The DART mission is scheduled to launch at 1:20 a.m. EST on Nov. 24.

Ready to watch NASA launch a mission to collide with an asteroid? 

If you're on the East Coast of the U.S., you may have to set your alarm; the rocket bearing the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is scheduled to blast off at 1:20 a.m. EST (6:20 a.m. GMT) on Nov. 24. Live launch coverage starts Nov. 24 at 12:30 a.m. EST (5:30 a.m. GMT) — you can watch it here on Live Science and on NASA Television, the NASA app and NASA's website.

DART is bound for the asteroid Didymos, which circles the sun just outside of Earth's orbital path. The spacecraft will arrive at its target between the end of September and early October next year, and once it gets there, DART will hurl itself into Didymos' smaller companion, the moonlet Dimorphos, so that scientists on Earth can measure the effectiveness of a controlled collision for deflecting a potentially hazardous asteroid. 

Related: The 7 strangest asteroids: Weird space rocks in our solar system

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry DART into space, launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California.

Didymos is a binary asteroid system, which means that it has two bodies. The larger one is shaped like a spinning top and measures about 2,600 feet (780 meters) in diameter, while the smaller — Dimorphos —measures around 525 feet (160 m) in diameter, according to NASA. 

Didymos is a near-Earth object (NEO), which means that it approaches Earth within 1.3 astronomical units (120.9 million miles, or 194.5 million kilometers). It's not considered to be a threat to our planet (and it won't be after the impact, either). Scientists selected Didymos as DART's target because crashing the spacecraft into Dimorphos is expected to shift the moonlet's orbit into a slightly different path around the larger body. Researchers can then measure changes in the orbital relationship between Dimorphos and Didymos, which will help them to calculate how this tactic could divert an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

RELATED CONTENT

—Top 10 ways to destroy Earth

—Crash! 10 biggest impact craters on Earth

—The 12 strangest objects in the universe

Astronomers discovered the asteroid in 2006, and confirmed the existence of its orbiting moonlet in 2003. Didymos will be approximately 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth at the time of DART's collision with Dimorphos, which is expected to take place between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1 in 2022, and when it crashes into the asteroid it will be traveling at a speed of about 15,000 mph (24,000 km/h) NASA said.

Can't wait until launch day? NASA will also broadcast prelaunch programming and science briefings on the agency's website starting on Sunday (Nov. 21), according to a statement.

Originally published on Live Science.

Mindy Weisberger

Senior Writer

Mindy Weisberger is a Live Science senior writer covering a general beat that includes climate change, paleontology, weird animal behavior, and space. Mindy holds an M.F.A. in Film from Columbia University; prior to Live Science she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post and How It Works Magazine.

window._taboola = window._taboola || []; var screenWidth = window.screen.width; function taboola_is_device(device) { if ((! device) || device === null || (typeof device) === 'undefined') return true if (device === 'amp') return false if (device === 'desktop' && screenWidth >= 700) return true if (device === 'mobile' && screenWidth < 700) return true return false } (function(){ var suitableDevice = taboola_is_device("desktop"); var suitablePlacement = !("Mid Article".includes('Mid Article') && "") && !("Mid Article".includes('Mid Article') && window.FUTR && window.FUTR.Kiosq && window.FUTR.Kiosq.hasBarrier); if (suitableDevice && suitablePlacement) { window._taboola.push({ mode: "thumbnails-a-mid", container: "desktop-taboola-mid-article", placement: "Mid Article", target_type: "mix" }); } })(); (function(){ var suitableDevice = taboola_is_device("mobile"); var suitablePlacement = !("Mid Article".includes('Mid Article') && "") && !("Mid Article".includes('Mid Article') && window.FUTR && window.FUTR.Kiosq && window.FUTR.Kiosq.hasBarrier); if (suitableDevice && suitablePlacement) { window._taboola.push({ mode: "thumbnails-a-mid", container: "mobile-taboola-mid-article", placement: "Mid Article", target_type: "mix" }); } })(); (function(){ var suitableDevice = taboola_is_device("desktop"); var suitablePlacement = !("Below Article Thumbnails".includes('Mid Article') && "") && !("Below Article Thumbnails".includes('Mid Article') && window.FUTR && window.FUTR.Kiosq && window.FUTR.Kiosq.hasBarrier); if (suitableDevice && suitablePlacement) { window._taboola.push({ mode: "thumbnails-f", container: "taboola-below-article-thumbnails", placement: "Below Article Thumbnails", target_type: "mix" }); } })(); (function(){ var suitableDevice = taboola_is_device("mobile"); var suitablePlacement = !("Mobile Below Article Thumbnails".includes('Mid Article') && "") && !("Mobile Below Article Thumbnails".includes('Mid Article') && window.FUTR && window.FUTR.Kiosq && window.FUTR.Kiosq.hasBarrier); if (suitableDevice && suitablePlacement) { window._taboola.push({ mode: "thumbnails-g", container: "taboola-mobile-below-article-thumbnails", placement: "Mobile Below Article Thumbnails", target_type: "mix" }); } })(); (function(){ var suitableDevice = taboola_is_device("amp"); var suitablePlacement = !("below-main-column".includes('Mid Article') && "") && !("below-main-column".includes('Mid Article') && window.FUTR && window.FUTR.Kiosq && window.FUTR.Kiosq.hasBarrier); if (suitableDevice && suitablePlacement) { window._taboola.push({ mode: "thumbnails-a", container: "", placement: "below-main-column", target_type: "" }); } })(); (function(){ var delay = 0; window.setTimeout(function() { window._taboola.push({flush: true}); }, delay); })();