NASA schedules launch of DART spacecraft for Nov. 23; Here's how to watch it

NASA has officially announced that its asteroid-killing Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft will launch on November 24. Under this mission, the agency is planning to build advanced technologies that would help in protecting the Earth from hazardous asteroid strikes. Scheduled for over a month from now, the spacecraft will launch aboard Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

A mission to avoid asteroid collisions 

NASA has finally made plans for one of the biggest hazards facing Earth - an asteroid collision. Several astronomers and scientists have warned that asteroids will be one of the many natural phenomenons that might cause the most damage if we do not have a proper defence system against them. In fact, it was an asteroid collision that caused the extinction of dinosaurs from the face of our planet 66 million years ago.

What will the spacecraft do?

The DART mission is based on the same idea as mentioned above and has reached its final stages of development before being launched for a test. Under the upcoming mission, the spacecraft will be sent approximately 109.4 crore kilometres away from Earth, towards the Didymos asteroid system.

This system consists of two asteroids - the Didymos and its moonlet, Dimorphos. NASA revealed that the spacecraft will ram into Dimorphos to determine if kinetic impactor technology, which requires flying a spacecraft directly into a small Solar System body, can serve as a reliable method of asteroid deflection. As per NASA, the suicidal spacecraft has been programmed to collide into the system at a speed of 24,140 kmph.

Developed and built at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the DART spacecraft carries a compact Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA)​ and the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical (DRACO) navigation. 

When and where to watch the launch?

Interested viewers can tune in to the live streaming of the launch on November 24 at 10:50 am (IST). According to the agency, the launch will be aired live on its platforms including NASA TV, the NASA app and its official website. Besides, NASA also stated that the action of collision, despite happening at such a distance, can be viewed via powerful ground-based telescopes.

Image: NASA