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NASA craft collides with asteroid in test of planetary defense

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was the first mission to attempt to push a dangerous object out of the way by means of a direct experiment, according to space mission director Thomas Zurbuchen. Shortly after the collision at 2314 GMT Monday, NASA tweeted "impact success" as the "vending machine-sized spacecraft successfully collides with asteroid Dimorphos, which is the size of a football stadium" and poses no threat to Earth.

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Launched from California aboard a Falcon 9 rocket in November, the DART spacecraft has a mass of 610 kilograms and measures 1.8 by 1.9 by 2.6 metres. Dimorphos has a diameter of around 160 metres and is a kind of moon orbiting around the larger asteroid Didymos.