NASA launches ‘suicide’ spacecraft to kick asteroid off course

NASA is carrying out a test mission that could one day stop an asteroid destroying the planet. The DART – Double Asteroid Redirection Test – was launched a few hours ago and will eventually collide with a “moonlet” millions of kilometres away. The goal is to slightly alter the trajectory of the Dimorphos moonlet – about 160 metres (525 feet) wide – that circles the much larger Didymos asteroid – 762 metres (2,500 feet) in diameter. Al Jazeera's @Laura Burdon-Manley reports. – Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe – Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish – Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera – Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/ #AlJazeeraEnglish #NASA #SuicideSpacecraft
Whatch on Al Jazeera