MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers
EARTH DEFENSES—A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is seen from Simi Valley (overlooking the 23 Freeway) after launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 23. DART is NASA’s first planetary defense mission, testing whether a spacecraft could deflect an asteroid on a collision course toward Earth. The goal is to hit the target—a football-field-size asteroid called Dimorphos—to see how its orbit changes. The spacecraft is expected to reach its target in 10 months.