• The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is due to collide with an asteroid at 19:14 EDT
• NASA’s first ‘planetary defense’ craft will try to deflect asteroid Dimorphos, which is 6.8 million miles from us
• $325 million mission may sound like the plot of Hollywood blockbuster such as Armageddon or Deep Impact
• But it could prove useful for altering the course of an asteroid years or decades before it bears down on Earth

Tagged: Space