‘This one’s for the dinosaurs’: how the world reacted to Nasa’s asteroid smashing success

Astrophiles and professionals celebrated humanity's accomplishment at hitting a speeding space rock with a probe the size of a vending machine

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The crashing of a spacecraft is, for once, a cause for celebration. The Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission on Tuesday marked humanity's first ever attempt at moving an asteroid in space.

Scientists at Nasa and Johns Hopkins University applauded and hugged each other on Tuesday after Dart, the size of a vending machine, successfully crashed into Dimorphos, a football field-sized asteroid that posed no risk to Earth.