In a little over five hours at 9:14 AM AEST, a NASA satellite will hit an asteroid. Deliberately.

This is the first mission in their Double Asteroid Redirection TEST (DART) program to assess the viability of a targeted satellite impact to alter an asteroid's path.

Dimorphous - their target - is 11 million kilometres away and not on course to collide with Earth but this program aims to provide us with a defence against potential future threats.

NASA will broadcast the event online and there will also be a continuous live feed from the spacecraft.

Many hours before the action, there are already nearly six thousand watchers waiting in those YouTube channels.

Don't know if it'll set a world record for longest distance livestream but would probably be personal record for most viewers.

[ Main Image: NASA's DART and ASI's LICIACube. Credit: NASA, John Hopkins APL and Steve Gribbens. ]

References

NASA (September 27, 2022). DART's Impact with Asteroid Dimorphos (Official NASA Broadcast). YouTube.

NASA (September 27, 2022). Watch a Live Feed from NASA’s DART Spacecraft on Approach to Asteroid Dimorphos. YouTube.

NASA Solar System [@NASASolarSystem] (September 27, 2022). Today the #DARTMission will make history in a full-scale #PlanetaryDefense test when it intentionally impacts a non-threatening asteroid. Twitter.

Wikipedia. Double Asteroid Redirection Test. (viewed September 27, 2022)