NASA to crash spacecraft into asteroid

Scientists are set for an impactful Monday as NASA will hurl a spacecraft on a harmless asteroid millions of miles away as an experiment.

The $325 million Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is a defensive measure to demonstrate that if an asteroid is ever on a collision course with Earth, the scientists at NASA can divert its path.

The 1260 pounds DART will hit the head of the asteroid Dimorphos at a speed of 14,000mph. The spacecraft won’t entirely crash the asteroid into small pieces, instead, it will cause a small crater and release the debris.

The purpose of this exercise is to divert Dimorphos’s path around a larger asteroid, Didymos, and to study the debris formed after impact. The entire exercise sounds right out of a Hollywood movie, but the asteroid is not on a collision course with Earth.

According to NASA, there is less than a 10% chance for DART to miss the target. If everything goes well, NASA will again nudge Dimorphos after two years for a second attack.

You can watch the collision live at 6:00 pm ET, here.