Asteroid deflection? Planetary defense?

Fathom

NASA moves from concept to preliminary design. For planetary defense against asteroids. Called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test). It's a kinetic impactor technique. Striking the asteroid to shift its orbit away from Earth. DART will practice on 2024 near flyby event. Twin asteroids flying together. Didymos A (780 meters in size) and Didymos B (160 meters). Think it will work? Comments?

CrabRevolution

In my mind I always think "In the future we'll definitely be able to deflect potentially harmful asteroids" but I never really thought we'd get started on the technology so soon.

Reminds me of the scene in Red Dwarf where they have to impact an asteroid to block up a "white hole", with the scenario being visualised as a galactic sized pool game!

Fathom

Fathom

Will DART be funded? Fiscal year beginning October 1, 2017.

Fathom

Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA). Collaboration. NASA. European Space Agency (ESA). Observatoire de la Cd´Azur (OCA). Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Kinetic impact technique. Deflect asteroid in space.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/31/planetary_defence_test_as_asteroid_2012_tc4_flies_by_in_october/

Scary news: Asteroid may pass Earth by just 6,880km in October
Good news: Chelyabinsk-sized rattler won't wipe us out, will let us test asteroid defences

Seriously
https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/asteroid-flyby-help-nasa-observation

For the first time, NASA will use an actual space rock for an observational campaign to test NASA's network of observatories and scientists who work with planetary defense. The asteroid, named 2012 TC4, does not pose a threat to the Earth, but NASA is using it as a test object for an observational campaign because of its close flyby on Oct. 12, 2017.

Fathom

What if they error and deflect asteroid towards Earth?