NASA spacecraft 'Dart' to crash into asteroid today: Here’s how to watch

Washington, Sep 26: NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is set to slam into an asteroid on Monday, in the first ever test of humanity's ability to deflect life-threatening space rocks before they collide with Earth at 7:14 p.m. EDT.

The 1,210-pound (550 kilograms) DART craft, a squat cube-shaped probe consisting of sensors, an antenna, an ion thruster and two 28-foot-long (8.5 meters) solar arrays, will smash into the asteroid Dimorphos while traveling at roughly 13,420 mph (21,160 km/h).

Among other activities, NASA will host a televised briefing beginning at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26 from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. APL is the builder and manager of the DART spacecraft for NASA.

This test will show a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it to change the asteroid's motion in a way that can be measured using ground-based telescopes. DART will provide important data to help better prepare for an asteroid that might pose an impact hazard to Earth, should one ever be discovered.

The following is a list of activities for DART's impact with the asteroid Dimorphos (all times Eastern):

Monday, Sept. 12

9 a.m. - NASA will host a hybrid media day at APL focused on the technology enabling the DART spacecraft to autonomously navigate to and impact its target asteroid. Participants include leaders from NASA and the DART mission team. In-person attendees will have an opportunity to tour the DART mission operations center at APL, located at 11100 Johns Hopkins Road in Laurel, Maryland.
Media interested in participating must RSVP by completing this form no later than 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30. NASA's media accreditation policy for on-site and virtual activities is available online.

Thursday, Sept. 22

3 p.m. - Media briefing at NASA Headquarters to preview DART's final activities before its impact with Dimorphos. The media briefing will take place in the Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in the Mary W. Jackson building, 300 E. Street, SW in Washington and include senior leaders from NASA and APL.

Media interested in participating must RSVP by completing this form no later than 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15.

Here's how to watch

6 p.m. - Live coverage of DART's impact with the asteroid Dimorphos will air on NASA TV and the agency's website. The public also can watch live on agency social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
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7:14 p.m. - DART's kinetic impact with asteroid Dimorphos.