--- title: "NASA Scientist: Asteroid Deflection Mission Not Like “Armageddon”" description: "An upcoming NASA mission will test Earth's planetary defense against a killer asteroid by smashing a probe into a distant space rock." date: "2019-01-02" modified: "2019-01-02" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/planetary-defense-nasa-asteroid" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "dart" - "killer asteroid" - "NASA" - "planetary defense" --- # NASA Scientist: Asteroid Deflection Mission Not Like “Armageddon” ![An upcoming NASA mission will test Earth's planetary defense against a killer asteroid by smashing a probe into a distant space rock.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Doomsday If a killer asteroid were on course to [collide with the Earth](), it could be a planet-scale disaster. Just look at what happened to the dinosaurs. To determine whether Earth's space agencies would have any chance of deterring that sort of catastrophe, an [upcoming NASA mission]() will smash a probe into a distant asteroid at an astonishing 13,500 mph (21,000 kilometers per hour). If the mission is successful, it'll produce an astonishing space collision — and signal an historic breakthrough in planetary defense. ## Armageddon NASA named the mission Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART — an acronym that acknowledges the delicate aim required to collide with an asteroid called Didymoon at extraordinary speed. The idea, DART team member and Johns Hopkins planetary scientist Nancy Chabot [told *Space.com* earlier this month]() in December, is that the probe's extreme velocity could cause a small change in the killer 'roid's direction, sending it off course years before impact. "To do something like this, we'd also need a really long warning time; the idea of a kinetic impactor is definitely not like \[the movie\] 'Armageddon,' where you go up at the last hour and you know, save the Earth," Chabot said. "This is something that you would do five, 10, 15, 20 years in advance — gently nudge the asteroid so it just sails merrily on its way and doesn't impact the Earth." ## Deep Impact The [current plan]() is to launch the DART probe in 2020 or 2021 so that it smashes into the asteroid in 2022. Several years later, a follow**-**up mission headed by the Italian space agency will study the damage and look for any change in the space rock's trajectory. "That's one of the big differences, is a lot of the science-driven missions seem to be focused on understanding the past of the solar system," Chabot told *Space.com*. "Planetary defense is really about the present solar system and what are we going to do in the present." **READ MORE:** [Humanity Will Slam a Spacecraft into an Asteroid in a Few Years to Help Save Us All]() \[*Space.com*\] ***More on killer asteroids:*** [Retired Astronaut: NASA Left Earth Defenseless Against Asteroids]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()