Something straight out of a science fiction film happened tonight. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully smashed head-on into the small asteroid Dimorphos at over 14,000 miles per hour.

NASA's Planetary Defense Programme.

The goal of this mission was purely planetary defence: testing whether we could alter an asteroid's trajectory by hitting it with a kinetic impactor. Watching the live feed from the spacecraft as the rocky, boulder-covered surface of the asteroid filled the frame right up until the signal was lost was intensely thrilling.

Now, telescopes on Earth (and JWST!) will monitor the asteroid to see exactly how much its orbit has changed.

Here, is the NASA live stream - impact at 1:16:00