Movie 'Armageddon' Becomes Reality... NASA Asteroid Collision Spacecraft Launches Today

On the 23rd (local time), NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft for asteroid collision testing was loaded onto SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and installed on the space launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara, California, USA. DART is scheduled to launch on the 24th, and if this experiment succeeds, it is expected to provide a means to defend Earth from the risks of asteroid and meteorite impacts. Santa Barbara, USA = AP·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] NASA's spacecraft for an asteroid collision test is scheduled to be launched soon. If the test succeeds, it is expected to be the first means to defend Earth from asteroids or meteorite threats with a high risk of collision with Earth. Approximately 16,000 near-Earth asteroids with potential collision risk have been discovered so far.

On the 23rd (local time), NASA announced in a statement that the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft will be launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 10:20 PM (Korean time, 3:20 PM on the 24th). NASA stated that if the launch is delayed due to adverse weather conditions, it will be rescheduled for 24 hours later.

According to NASA's plan, after being launched into space, DART will orbit the Sun almost once before encountering the orbit of the asteroid "Dimorphos," which is about the size of a soccer field. Dimorphos is a satellite orbiting the larger asteroid "Didymos" every 11 hours and 55 minutes, and the two asteroids orbit the Sun once every two years.

Subsequently, DART will accelerate toward Dimorphos four hours before collision and impact at a speed of 24,140 km/h. The camera onboard DART will transmit real-time footage to Earth up to 20 seconds before the collision. If this experiment succeeds, it is expected to be the first minimal means to defend Earth from asteroid and meteorite impacts.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized at a press conference, "DART is like reenacting the movie 'Armageddon' starring Bruce Willis." Armageddon is a 1998 science fiction film in which oil drilling experts land on an asteroid heading toward Earth to install and detonate nuclear weapons inside the asteroid to alter its trajectory.

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