DART hits an asteroid
Humanity deflects a body in space for the first time, on purpose.
- When
- Known to
- ± 12 hours
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
On 26 September 2022 NASA's DART spacecraft struck the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos at 6.1 km/s. The impact shortened its orbit around Didymos by 32 minutes, far more than the 73 seconds that would have counted as success, because the ejecta thrown off gave more push than the spacecraft itself. It was the first demonstration that an asteroid on course for Earth could be moved.