Benjamin Caldwell:Google celebrates NASA's DART mission with a new search gimmick

2025-05-02 07:13:41source:TradeEdge Exchangecategory: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 Benjamin CaldwellMonday 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

Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams

Early Thursday morning, "Forbes" released their annual list of the 50 most valuable sports franchise

Matthew Perry's Former Costar Ione Skye Shares Their Final Text Exchange Days Before His Death

Ione Skye is remembering her friend. Following Matthew Perry's death from an apparent drowning at hi

Travis Barker Slams “Ridiculous” Speculation He’s the Reason for Kourtney and Kim Kardashian’s Feud

Travis Barker played no role in this feud—bible. After his wife Kourtney Kardashian began feuding wi