Launching Soon: NASA's First Asteroid Deflection Test

As a test of NASA's planetary defense technologies, DART will collide with and slightly change the speed of Dimorphos, a small 'moonlet' orbiting the asteroid Didymos. Dimorphos will be over 6 million miles away at the time of impact and does not pose a threat to Earth, either before or after DART's collision. With nearby satellites and Earth-based telescopes, NASA and our international partners will track DART's effect on Dimorphos and use this data to help protect Earth from future asteroid impact threats.