Elon Musk is the CEO of SpaceX, a space company that is working with NASA.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is NASA’s first venture into planetary defense. Using the Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX, of which Elon Musk is the co-founder, the DART spacecraft officially left Earth on Wednesday.
Its mission is “one-of-a-kind,” considering that it will not explore space or land somewhere outside Earth. Instead, it will crash into a target asteroid, allowing scientists to determine whether the impact would change the asteroid’s course effectively.
A response from Elon Musk
A massive asteroid once hit Earth in the past. It resulted in the wiping out of dinosaurs in the face of the planet.
In relation to this, Elon Musk shared a funny post following the DART mission’s launch. On Twitter, he had a “hilarious” response to NASA’s update, according to Republic World.
The SpaceX CEO said, “avenge the dinosaurs” as the DART spacecraft moves forward to its target asteroid. He also included the original post of NASA, providing some updates regarding the mission.
Avenge the dinosaurs!! https://t.co/knL2pFLGzF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2021
The publication said that the tweet caught the eye of many netizens, causing some to chime in with their own hilarious responses on the same platform.
About the Double Asteroid Redirection Test
Asteroids colliding with planets are very common events. But, they do not usually pose threats on Earth because of their sizes, and the atmosphere burns them upon entry.
Despite this, though, NASA is setting up a planetary defense system to avoid potential threats in the future. Through the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), alongside the tools from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, experts at the agency will see whether a dedicated spacecraft can alter the course of a potentially threatening asteroid, avoiding collision with Earth.
The DART spacecraft will reach its target asteroid moonlet, Dimorphos, in fall of 2022. In the next few years, the European Space Agency will launch its Hera probe to see and analyse the aftermath of the collision.
Other NASA contracts with SpaceX
The DART mission is just one of the many projects SpaceX has with NASA. The space agency awarded its first contract with the Musk-led space company in 2006 for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.
A series of contracts followed through from 2008 to 2016 for the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS). There is also the ongoing Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, delivering astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
In 2021, the space company received new contracts from NASA. These include the Jupiter mission, landing in its icy moon, Europa.
Elon Musk, through SpaceX, also obtained the NASA contract for the Artemis program. Its goal is to return astronauts to the surface of the moon for the first time since 1972 under the Apollo program.
Images courtesy of SpaceX/YouTube