This aftrenoon DART kamikaze probe will crash into an asteroid to change its trajectory - the collision will be observed by the James Webb and Hubble telescopes and the public online

Less than 12 hours remain before the first-ever deliberate collision of a spacecraft with an asteroid. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) suicide probe will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos.

Here's What We Know

The collision is scheduled for 20:14 (EDT) or 17:14 (PDT). DART locked on to its target a few days ago. The James Webb and Hubble space telescopes will observe the impact. Anyone wishing to see the collision will be able to watch it live on NASA's YouTube channel. In addition, to see the impact will be possible thanks to the Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, who has also prepared an online broadcast on YouTube.

Moreover, a little later we are waiting for detailed photos from the scene. For this purpose, the Light Italian for Imaging of Asteroid (LICIACube) satellite was attached to the probe. It will fly near the impact site a few minutes after the impact. The footage is expected to appear in new access within a day.

Flashback

NASA is using DART to test the possibility of changing the trajectory of space bodies that could be dangerous to our planet. The twin asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos are 11 million kilometers from Earth. Dimorphos has a diameter of 160 m. It is assumed that after the collision it will deviate from its trajectory by less than 1%.

Source: space