NASA says spaceship successfully deflected asteroid in test to save Earth

"DART shortened the 11 hour 55 minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes," said NASA chief Bill Nelson.

Image used for representation.(File Photo | AFP) 

NASA on Tuesday said it had succeeded in deflecting an asteroid in a historic test of humanity's ability to stop an incoming cosmic object from devastating life on Earth.

The fridge-sized Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impactor deliberately smashed into the moonlet asteroid Dimorphos on September 26, pushing it into a smaller, faster orbit around its big brother Didymos, said NASA chief Bill Nelson.

"DART shortened the 11 hour 55 minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes," he said.