SpaceX Launches NASA Dart Mission That Will Crash Into An Asteroid

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk-led SpaceX and U.S. space agency NASA on Wednesday launched the Falcon 9 rocket along the California central coast for a first planetary defense test to redirect an asteroid.

What Happened: The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched at the scheduled time of 10:21 p.m. PT Tuesday; both SpaceX and NASA confirmed the deployement nearly an hour later.

On our way!

55 minutes into its flight, the #DARTMission spacecraft has separated from the @SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage, and will soon begin to orient itself toward the Sun. pic.twitter.com/hI6NoQ11zw

— NASA (@NASA) November 24, 2021

The U.S. space agency said the spacecraft would soon begin to orient itself towards the Sun. 

Watch Falcon 9 launch @NASA's DART mission – humanity's first planetary defense test to redirect an asteroid https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK https://t.co/XMKYOGAjbB

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 24, 2021

The DART spacecraft will target an asteroid known as Didymos, which is orbiting a larger asteroid called Dimorphos. 

Light Show: Souther California residents were treated with an aerial lightshow following the liftoff. Jack Beyer, an aerospace and launch photographer, shared a long-exposure photograph of the Falcon 9 launch.

Long exposure of SpaceX Falcon 9 B1063.3 lofting NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Test) mission into space from Vandenberg Space Force Base. This one is for the dinosaurs! @NASASpaceflight pic.twitter.com/PI2E7MYJsI

— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) November 24, 2021

The space company and the agency shared the liftoff, the separation clips and the return of the Falcon 9’s first stage booster on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship.

Falcon 9's first stage booster landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, completing SpaceX's 95th successful recovery of an orbital class rocket booster pic.twitter.com/tEn34tlVqE

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 24, 2021

Why It Matters: The experimental test attempts to find out if this is an effective way to change an asteroid’s course in the future to avoid a collision with Earth, SpaceX said in a tweet. 

The DART spacecraft will crash into Didymos in September 2022 at a speed of about 14,700 miles per hour to change its orbit.

The Didymos system poses no actual impact threat to Earth.

Photo: Courtesy of NASA