Why is Don't Look Up trending on Twitter? NASA spacecraft crashes into asteroid, leaving the internet in frenzy

Don't Look Up is trending on Twitter after NASA successfully crashed a spaceship into an asteroid traveling at 15,000 mph on Monday night to prepare for the eventuality that a giant space rock may endanger Earth.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first NASA mission of its type, intends to test our planet's defenses against prospective asteroid hits. But disregard "Don't Look Up," "Deep Impact," "Armageddon," and all the other films about planet-destroying asteroids, even if the DART experiment had failed, the asteroid was barely 160 meters broad and won't be anywhere near Earth.

The $325 million effort was the first attempt to move any natural object in space. Although this particular asteroid posed no harm to Earth, asteroid collisions are real and may still occur.

However, NASA announced that there is no genuine threat from asteroids for at least the next 100 years. To demonstrate its ability to deflect planet-threatening space rocks, NASA simulated rescuing the Earth by slamming the asteroid with a spaceship.

It is believed that an asteroid crash around million years ago led to the extinction of the dinosaurs and the majority of other living forms present at the time. In 2013, an asteroid erupted over Russia after entering the Earth's atmosphere, injuring hundreds of people and inflicting extensive damage.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was of the opinion that the mission would

“Teach us how one day to protect our own planet from an incoming asteroid. We are showing that planetary defense is a global endeavor and it is very possible to save our planet.”

He added,

“No, this is not a movie plot. We’ve all seen it on movies like ‘Armageddon,’ but the real-life stakes are high,”

Millions of small asteroids, which frequently breach Earth's atmosphere, circle the Sun, but many burn out owing to friction before they reach the surface. While some of them fall to the surface, they are not large enough to be dangerous.

Larger asteroids provide the greatest threat. The one that wiped off the dinosaurs had a breadth of around 10 kilometers. According to NASA, a large asteroid only approaches the Earth every 100 to 200 million years.

---

Don't Look Up trends on Twitter

In the movie, Don't Look Up, actors Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio depict scientists attempting to alert authorities of a comet that will collide with Earth within six months, causing enough planetary damage to wipe out all life. This resembles the real-life DART mission, as the primary danger in the movie Don't Look Up was a comet.

Here's how Twitter reacted after NASA crashed a spaceship into an asteroid:

We can relax more easily when asteroids start getting too close, as the real-life DART accomplished its goal.

---