WASHINGTON: A NASA mission to deliberately smash a spacecraft into an asteroid — a test run should humanity ever need to stop a giant space rock from wiping out life on Earth — blasted off Tuesday from California.

It may sound like science fiction, but the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) is a real proof-of-concept experiment, the goal of which is to slightly alter the trajectory of the asteroid Dimorphos. The SpaceX rocket carrying the mission spacecraft lifted off at 10:21 pm Pacific Time Tuesday (0621 GMT Wednesday) from Vandenberg Space Force Base. “Asteroid Dimorphos: we’re coming for you!” NASA tweeted after the launch, adding later the DART spacecraft had successfully separated from the rocket’s second stage.