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Skywatch 16

Skywatch 16: NASA's DART mission

Unlike the plots of some box office blockbusters, we've rarely had to deal with incoming asteroids threatening to destroy Earth, but NASA isn't taking any chances.

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PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Science fiction is about to become reality. NASA is launching a first-of-its-kind spacecraft early Wednesday morning notes that will test the idea of deflecting an asteroid so that it doesn't threaten Earth.

Newswatch 16's John Hickey shows us how this Hollywood fantasy became a real NASA mission in this week's Skywatch 16.

The @SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the DART spacecraft is vertical on the launch pad at @SLDelta30 in California! Launch is scheduled for Nov. 24 at 1:21am ET (Nov. 23 at 10:21pm PT) #DARTMission #PlanetaryDefense More 📷: https://t.co/iU5MOJDHCI pic.twitter.com/Ik7YhHa0be
— NASA HQ PHOTO (@nasahqphoto) November 23, 2021

All systems and weather are looking good for tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of @NASA’s DART into an asteroid-intercepting interplanetary trajectory → https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK pic.twitter.com/BBrMndhpkQ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 23, 2021

See more Skywatch 16 segments on YouTube.