(MSN) – Nasa plans to knock an asteroid out of orbit by launching a spacecraft to deliberately crash into it in what is thought to be the first ever test of a planetary defense system. The ambitious mission is set to prove whether the Earth could be defended if an asteroid was on course to devastate the planet by smashing into its surface. A project called Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which aims to throw an

asteroid off course in three years’ time, has been approved by the space agency. Nasa expects to launch the probe into space between December 2020 and the following May, and will eventually collide with an asteroid known as Didymoon. Didymoon is a 150-meter moon asteroid and is part of a double asteroid system which will be within 11million kilometers of Earth upon impact, Nasa has said. READ MORE