HOUSTON, TEXAS – Watch NASA’s live feed from NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft on approach to and impact with Asteroid Dimorphos. DART has one single instrument onboard – the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical Navigation, aka the DRACO camera. DRACO serves as the spacecraft’s eye and will guide DART to its final destination: impact with asteroid Dimorphos. The stream you’re watching is a real-time feed from the DART spacecraft enabled through the DRACO camera sending one image per second to Earth. The first video covers DART’s approach to the asteroid and the second video will show the impact of the spacecraft with the asteroid. The DART impact broadcast will be covered with commentary. DART is a spacecraft designed to impact an asteroid as a test of technology. DART’s target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth. This asteroid system is a perfect testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should an Earth-threatening asteroid be discovered in the future.

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Head image: © NASA / YouTube