---
title: "NASA Says Its Test of Asteroid Deflection Tech Was Wildly Successful"
description: "NASA is declaring the demonstration of its DART spacecraft smashing into an asteroid a full success, having considerably changed its trajectory."
date: "2022-10-12"
modified: "2022-10-12"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-asteroid-deflection-successful"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "asteroids"
  - "dart"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Says Its Test of Asteroid Deflection Tech Was Wildly Successful

![NASA is declaring the demonstration of its DART spacecraft smashing into an asteroid a full success, having considerably changed its trajectory.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/nasa-asteroid-deflection-successful.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Futurism\</em\>*

## Planetary Defenders

Last month, NASA [smashed](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-live-nasa-dart-slam-asteroid>) its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft into an asteroid's moonlet known as Dimorphos at 14,000 mph.

Now, NASA is declaring the demonstration triumphant, saying it successfully changed the space rock's trajectory in an historic demonstration that humanity could indeed save itself from a catastrophic asteroid collision.

"All of us have a responsibility to protect our home planet," NASA boss Bill Nelson [said during a Tuesday briefing](<https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/11/world/nasa-dart-success-update-scn/index.html>). "After all, it’s the only one we have."

"This mission shows that NASA is trying to be ready for whatever the universe throws at us," he added. "NASA has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet."

## Orbital Adjustment

The data is rolling in, NASA says, and the numbers look promising. Case in point, the impact appears to have changed the time it takes for Dimorphos to circle its larger asteroid parent Didymos by a full 32 minutes.

That's more than three times the initial goal of changing its trajectory by ten minutes.

"For the first time ever, humanity has changed the orbit of a planetary object," NASA Planetary Science Division director Lori Glaze told reporters.

A [number of ground- and space-based observatories](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/webb-hubble-nasa-asteroid-dart>), including NASA's Hubble and James Webb telescopes, were able to capture the event, confirming the new trajectory.

## Anchor Points

Despite the resounding success, we still much to learn about deflecting any future asteroid threats to Earth, cautioned NASA spokespeople other than Nelson.

"We should not be too eager to say that one test on one asteroid tells us exactly how every other asteroid would behave in a similar situation," said Tom Statler, DART program scientist at NASA, during the briefing.

"But what we can do is use this test as an anchor point for our physics calculations in our simulations that tell us how different kinds of impacts in different situations should behave," he added.

**READ MORE:** [The DART mission successfully changed the motion of an asteroid](<https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/11/world/nasa-dart-success-update-scn/index.html>) \[*CNN*\]

**More on DART:** *[The Devastation From NASA's Asteroid Collision Looks Unbelievable](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/devastation-nasa-asteroid-collision>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)