Nasa says its Dart spacecraft changed the asteroid's trajectory in a 'defining moment for humanity'

NASA's DART spacecraft achieved its primary purpose by altering the direction of an asteroid by sheer kinetic force, as part of a mission to $330 million in September

Video loading

Video not available

Click to playTap to play

NASA DART mission hits asteroid Dimorphos in defense test

A Nasa spacecraft deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month during a successful mission to knock it off course.

This is the first time that mankind has altered the natural orbit of a celestial body such as the rocky moon.

"This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and a watershed moment for humanity," NASA chief Bill Nelson said in announcing the results.

The DART spacecraft has achieved its primary goal of changing the direction of an asteroid through pure kinetic force, according to results of telescope observations released by NASA.

Known as a suicide test flight, the $330 million DART mission took place on September 26.

Seven years in the making, this is the world's first test of a planetary defense system designed to prevent a possible apocalyptic collision of a meteorite with Earth.

The final images of the DART test (

Picture:

AFP via Getty Images)

The target of the DART flight was an egg-shaped asteroid named Dimorphos - roughly the size of a football stadium.

It orbited an approximately five times larger parent asteroid called Didymos once every 11 hours and 55 minutes.

The goal was to fly the DART impact vehicle - no bigger than a vending machine - directly into Dimorphos at around 22,000 km/h.