NASA is preparing for their "Armageddon"-like mission of crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid, and they want the public to watch live.

Asteroids frequently get close to hitting Earth, but it's been over 65 million years since a catastrophic one has impacted our planet. Plus, there's been renewed interest in objects hurtling toward us since the popularity of the 2021 doomsday comedy "Don't Look Up."

Luckily, NASA will test out its plan in case it ever happens.

The space agency's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos, next month. Scientists say neither asteroid is headed towards Earth, but with Dimorphos at an estimated 520 feet long, it is an asteroid that could cause significant damage if it were to hit Earth, NASA says.

Regardless of the outcome, the mission will give astronomers and scientists "important data" on what the response would be should a dangerous asteroid have a collision course with Earth. There currently is no threat to us, scientists say.

"We don't want to be in a situation where an asteroid is headed toward Earth and then have to be testing this kind of capability.

NASA's Artemis 1 mission is poised to take a key step toward returning humans to the moon after a half-century hiatus. The launch was scheduled for the morning of Aug. 29, 2022, but was postponed due to an issue with one of the rocket's engines. The next opportunity to launch the rocket is Sept. 2, 2022. The mission is a shakedown cruise—sans crew—for NASA's Space Launch System and Orion Crew Capsule.

The spacecraft is scheduled to travel to the moon, deploy some small satellites and then settle into orbit. NASA aims to practice operating the spacecraft, test the conditions crews will experience on and around the moon, and assure everyone that the spacecraft and any occupants can safely return to Earth.

The Conversation asked Jack Burns, a professor and space scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and former member of the Presidential Transition Team for NASA, to describe the mission, explain what the Artemis program promises to do for space exploration, and reflect on how the space program has changed in the half-century since humans last set foot on the lunar surface.