Nasa successfully crashes spacecraft into asteroid in ‘planetary protection test’

Nasa has successfully crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in a test run to see if dangerous rocks hurtling toward Earth can be stopped using the same method.

In what the agency described as a "planetary protection test mission," crews fired a craft into an asteroid named Dimorphos early on Tuesday, 27 September.

While the 560ft wide Dimorphos posed no threat to Earth, the successful crash just after midnight UK time was celebrated as a step in the right direction toward a plan that could one day save the planet.

Footage shows crews cheering as the impact was confirmed.

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