Could NASA accidentally send an asteroid hurtling toward Earth?

NASA is investing significant resources into asteroid defence, but its new protective system could have unintended consequences.

The US space agency’s latest asteroid deflection initiative, the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, is a major scientific milestone but also carries potential risks, according to an article by LADbible. Researchers warn that while the system is designed to divert asteroids, it could unintentionally direct them towards Earth.

Initial NASA test a success

Developed by the Johns Hopkins Laboratory for NASA, the DART system was launched in November 2022. After travelling for over 10 months, it successfully collided with an asteroid named Dimorphos — a moonlet of the larger asteroid Didymos — at a distance of 11 million kilometres. The collision was a controlled experiment aimed at determining whether a kinetic strike could redirect an asteroid on a potential collision course with Earth.

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NASA hailed the mission as a success and noted its significant contribution to refining future asteroid-deflection models. “The success of DART advances the development of asteroid-deflection models and helps researchers better understand how – and when – a kinetic impactor could be used to redirect an asteroid approaching Earth,” the agency stated.

Could NASA’s latest breakthrough backfire when it comes to asteroids?

While the DART mission exceeded expectations, growing concerns are being raised about the unintended consequences of altering an asteroid’s trajectory. Recent studies highlight one of the greatest risks in asteroid redirection: the so-called “gravitational keyholes”. If an asteroid were to inadvertently pass through one of these small regions in space, it could be nudged onto a future collision course with Earth.