Nasa launches asteroid-deflecting spacecraft on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

Move will test technique that one day might avert an apocalyptic collision with Earth

Nasa launched a spacecraft Tuesday night on a mission to smash into an asteroid and test whether it would be possible to knock a speeding space rock off course if one were to threaten Earth. The DART spacecraft, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a $324 million project with echoes of the Bruce Willis movie “Armageddon.”

The $324 million DART mission is unusual for NASA, a civilian agency that focuses mainly on exploration, climate monitoring and hunting for signs of past life in our solar system. While