Local Planetarium Coordinator Reacts to Successful NASA Mission

NASA’s DART mission is being viewed as a success.

Last month, a spacecraft they launched last year made contact with the distant asteroid Dimorphous. The goal was to create enough force to move it just enough to change it’s course. This experiment is meant to increase our ability to divert a potentially catastrophic asteroid from hitting our planet.

While there isn’t an asteroid within our view that could hit earth within the next 100 years, this experiment could mean the extermination or saving grace for earth. “This being a good success will tell us that it is indeed possible to change the orbit of an asteroid,” said Johnathan Winckowski, planetarium coordinator for Besser Museum. “With there being multiple asteroids, this test will help us see how this specific type of asteroid behaves.”

With the mission’s success, it’s possible we could see more missions like this in the future.