NASA’s first planetary defense mission will nudge an asteroid

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By Adam Mann, Science Magazine. 

Excerpt: Intentional crash of robotic probe will test way to avert asteroid impacts on Earth. In the name of planetary defense, NASA is set to launch a robotic probe next week that in late 2022 will hurtle into a sizable space rock in the hopes of nudging its orbit. Although the celestial target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) poses no danger to our planet, the mission will assess the feasibility of deflecting potentially hazardous objects away from Earth.… [DART successfully launched last night (Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 10:21 p.m. PST)] See also New York Times article.

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