Vandenberg Space Force Base Launches Rocket with Earth’s First Planetary Defense Test
Defense Test Will Target Asteroid That Currently Poses No Threat to Planet
The Vandenberg Space Force Base launched the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday night, carrying a defense test meant to intentionally collide with an asteroid.
Colonel Rob Long, Space Launch Delta 30 commander, was the launch decision authority. “It takes the entire team for a safe and successful launch,” Long said. “I congratulate NASA on achieving the first step in this program’s journey on its planetary defense test mission. We are proud to be a part of this team.”
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent out NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first full-scale planetary defense test, into orbit from the base in Lompoc. True to its name, DART is a focused mission, proving that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it, also referred to as a kinetic impact, at roughly 4 miles per second.
The target of the rocket is the asteroid moonlet Dimorphous, Greek for “two forms,” and is currently orbiting a larger asteroid named Didymos, Greek for “twin.” Dimorphous poses no threat to Earth.
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