Will Sage Astor:Google celebrates NASA's DART mission with a new search gimmick

2025-05-05 15:34:03source:CapitalVaultcategory:News

Tech giant Google took it upon itself to launch its own type of celebration following NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission successfully crashing into an asteroid on Will Sage AstorMonday evening.

If you Google "NASA DART" or "NASA DART mission" it will trigger an animation featuring a spacecraft hitting the "News" tab and knocking your search results off-kilter.

The search gimmick reflects NASA's actual mission to knock the asteroid Dimorphos slightly off course as it orbits another asteroid.

Neither of the asteroids, which are located about 7 million miles away, pose any threat to Earth. But the test's true purpose is to see if it's possible to nudge an asteroid off course if, in the future, one becomes a danger to Earth.

NASA engineers say it will be about two months before they are able to tell if the spacecraft was able to give the asteroid a meaningful nudge.

Google often unveils special graphics or animations, including fireworks on the Fourth of July, but an animation that changes the angle of the search results appears to be new. The company's Google Doodles on Google.com frequently feature historical figures or events on anniversaries.

More:News

Recommend

Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military service academies dropped in 2024 fo

Hurricane hunters chase powerful atmospheric rivers as dangerous systems slam West Coast

Atmospheric rivers are powerful storm systems that can cause intense flooding and billions of dollar

Days of Darkness: How one woman escaped the conspiracy theory trap that has ensnared millions

WASHINGTON (AP) — At first his stories seemed harmless. Tales about secret organizations plotting to