The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)  is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the space program.  They have gained much popularity amidst their elaborate galactic projects, ranging from their first landing on the moon, to creating the strongest telescope to ever set its sight through our solar system.   Their goal is advance scientific research for the betterment of our society, and as a whole, the planet.

In their fullest glory, they have yet again produced another project worth recognizing for both its importance and impact upon our safety on this planet. 

A spacecraft they launched in November of 2021 collided, purposely, with the asteroid Dimorphos on September 26, 2022.

Titled as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, this mission was conjured by NASA and other cooperating organizations in the expanse of developing a suitable “Space Defense” in the case of there being a threatening invader, such as a meteor approaching at a close vicinity towards Earth.  Such an event could severely detrimental, quite possibly damaging mass infrastructure, life, biomes, and the earth itself.  NASA, and a conjoining corporation for mechanical production (Jet Propulsion Laboratory),  ingeniously manifested many theoretical ideas into a defensive machine, prioritized to address such a frightful scenario. 

The sole purpose of DART is the ability to collide with massive objects in space, defying the absolute vacuum which surrounds its physical body. Essentially, the spacecraft must possess knowledge of both the speed and velocity in which the targeted asteroid is progressing, whether it’d be revolving around a larger body or aimlessly drifting in space. For its premier launch, DART needed the capability of sensing both the position and state of the asteroid, tailoring its own descent into the asteroid’s territory, resolutely confirmed through NASA’s journaling of the project.

Though exciting, the scientists and engineers of NASA are considering this an experimental run, utilizing a completely harmless asteroid within space for the reassurance of the spacecraft’s effectiveness in bombarding with matter through space. 

“It’s going to be thrilling—and very stressful—but ultimately, I think we’re going to learn a lot,” Cristina Thomas, leader of the DART mission told science.org about the event.