‘A new era’: Nasa strikes asteroid in key test of planetary defence

A television at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, captures the final images from the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) just before it smashes into the asteroid Dimorphos on Sept 26, 2022. Dart struck the moonlet asteroid Dimorphos, in a historic test of humanity's ability to prevent a cosmic object devastating life on Earth. — AFP

LAUREL, United States: Bullseye: A Nasa spaceship on Sept 26 struck an asteroid seven million miles away in order to deflect its orbit, succeeding in a historic test of humanity’s ability to prevent a celestial object from devastating life on Earth.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) impactor hit its target, the space rock Dimorphos, at 7.14pm Eastern Time (2314 GMT), 10 months after blasting off from California on its pioneering mission.