Date uploaded: 2022-09-26 17:56:28

NASA will deliberately crash a small, fast-moving spacecraft into an asteroid 7 million miles away Monday evening in hope of changing its orbit – the first test of a planetary defense system to deflect asteroids and other objects that could threaten Earth. The 1,260-pound craft is called DART, an acronym for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. It's a vending- machine-sized vehicle with solar panels, traveling at 14,760 mph and carrying a single camera for navigation and targeting. The impact, which will destroy the spacecraft, is predicted at 7:14 p.m. Monday, EDT. DART is targeting part of what's called a binary asteroid system, or two asteroids that revolve around each other. Click the link in our bio to learn more about the NASA spacecraft.