The event will be the agency's first full-scale demonstration of deflection technology that can protect the planet.
"For the first time ever, we will measurably change the orbit of a celestial body in the universe," said Robert Braun, head of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory's Space Exploration Sector in Laurel, Maryland.
At the time of impact, Didymos and Dimorphos will be relatively close to Earth -- within 6.8 million miles.This collision will be recorded by LICIACube, or Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids, a companion cube satellite provided by the Italian Space Agency. The fast impact will only change Dimorphos' speed as it orbits Didymos by 1%, which doesn't sound like a lot -- but it will change the moon's orbital period.
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