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

2025-05-07 14:02:32source:Leonard Hohenbergcategory:reviews

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 QuaxsMonday 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:reviews

Recommend

As communist troops streamed into Saigon, a few remaining reporters kept photos and stories flowing

BANGKOK (AP) — They’d watched overnight as the bombardments grew closer, and observed through binocu

This 4-year-old's birthday was nearly ruined. Then two police officers stepped in to help.

Ohio police officers Drew Olinger and Joe Sanchez are used to getting calls about cars and other ite

Killer Mike escorted out of Grammys in handcuffs after winning 3 awards

Killer Mike's triumphant run at the 2024 Grammys has taken a turn after the rapper was handcuffed Su