A recent example of science in the media is the success of DART hitting the asteroid on Monday.
This was caught by the two most powerful telescopes, James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble
Space Telescope. Double Asteroid Redirection Test, DART, crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos
on Monday. This is the first ever test of “asteroid deflection technology” (Strickland, 2022). This
was attempted in order to change the movement or motion of an orbiting asteroid. Scientists will
continue to monitor if this collision is successful in changing the motion of the asteroid. They will
monitor these changes by observing both the Webb and Hubble telescopes, as well as with ground-
based telescopes (Strickland, 2022).
I think we can all agree that this is simultaneously fascinating and scary. NASA just casually sent
a satellite into space to smash into an asteroid at 14,000 mph. (I obviously know this wasn’t done
“casually, and it took years to prepare.) It is easy for our minds to think of the movies and television
shows we have seen where an asteroid hits Earth and everything falls apart. However, what this
team of scientists did this week will impact future generations for years to come. This is an
international win for science this week.
References
Strickland, A. (2022, September 29). Webb, Hubble space telescopes share images of DART
slamming into an asteroid. CNN. https://cnn.com/2022/09/29/world/dart-impact-webb-
hubble-telescopes-scn/index.html
