Can We Deflect an Asteroid? The DART and Hera Missions Reading Comprehension Passage and Questions

This reading explores how scientists could prevent a dangerous asteroid from striking Earth. Students learn why early detection is essential, how small changes in an asteroid’s speed can produce large changes over time, and how a kinetic impactor can alter an asteroid’s motion without destroying it.

Students examine NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first mission to deliberately change the motion of an asteroid. They investigate how DART struck Dimorphos, shortened its orbit around Didymos, and transferred additional momentum through escaping rock and dust. The reading also explores the European Space Agency’s Hera mission, which will examine the results of the impact and help scientists improve future asteroid-deflection missions.

This resource covers the following topics:

✅ Grade 8 and Up Reading on Asteroid Deflection: Explains how scientists detect, study, and potentially redirect hazardous asteroids.

✅ No-Prep, Editable Resource: Easy to assign as print or digital scientific literacy practice.

✅ DART and Hera Mission Case Study: Students examine the first successful asteroid-deflection test and the mission investigating its results.

✅ Physics and Space Science Applications: Connects momentum, kinetic energy, velocity, gravity, and orbital motion to planetary defense.

✅ Includes Reading Comprehension and Extension Questions: Comes with 10 comprehension questions, 5 extension questions, and complete answer keys.

This resource covers the following topics:

• Near-Earth Objects and Planetary Defense
• Why Early Asteroid Detection Matters
• Momentum, Kinetic Energy, and Orbital Motion
• The Kinetic-Impactor Method
• The Didymos and Dimorphos Asteroid System
• NASA’s DART Mission
• Ejecta and Momentum Transfer
• The European Space Agency’s Hera Mission
• Juventas and Milani CubeSats
• Alternative Asteroid-Deflection Methods

How this product will help your students:

• Improve their scientific and disciplinary literacy skills
• Strengthen their reading comprehension and scientific knowledge
• Understand how scientists identify and monitor potentially dangerous asteroids
• Explain how a small velocity change could prevent a future impact
• Apply momentum and kinetic-energy concepts to a real space mission
• Compare DART’s results with the goals of the Hera mission
• Evaluate why asteroid size, composition, structure, and warning time affect deflection plans
• Compare different possible asteroid-deflection methods

How this product will help you:

• Give you a ready-to-use reading for independent work, homework, class discussion, sub plans, enrichment, or cross-curricular literacy practice
• Make assigning and assessing student work easier with included questions and complete answer keys
• Provide a current real-world application of physics, astronomy, engineering, and space science
• Introduce planetary defense through the DART and Hera missions
• Provide meaningful calculations involving momentum, kinetic energy, velocity, and distance
• Give you a practical way to measure students’ scientific literacy and comprehension skills

Google Classroom and Distance Learning Ready

• This resource is perfect for in-class or distance learning and integrates seamlessly with Google Classroom.
• Automatically creates a copy of the reading and puts it directly into your Google Drive with a single click.
• Purchase --> Open --> Click --> Assign to your students
• The reading also includes a Microsoft Word and PDF version.

No prep, no formatting, no issues. Simply download, print, or upload it to your class site, and you are all set.

The Problem You Face – Not having enough time to teach scientific literacy or improve your students’ reading comprehension and analysis skills while also connecting physics and space science to current real-world missions.

The Solution

This fully editable, NO-PREP reading comprehension article contains relevant, applicable, and engaging activities that can be used to:

• introduce planetary defense and asteroid deflection
• improve students’ reading comprehension and scientific literacy
• apply momentum and kinetic-energy concepts
• connect physics to real spacecraft missions
• develop evidence-based reasoning and analysis skills
• compare different asteroid-deflection strategies
• provide an extension activity for students who move at a faster pace
• provide extra credit to students in need
• measure students’ literacy skills and scientific understanding

This resource will take your students between 60–90 minutes to complete and includes calculation, research, comparison, and evidence-based questions. Complete answer keys are included for your reference.

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You might also be interested in my other individual reading comprehension articles. Each one can be found inside my Grade 8 and Up Reading Mega Bundle.

I have over 200 readings that cover a variety of topics found in:

• Chemistry
• Energy
• Biology
• Health
• Earth and Space
• Physics
• Ecology and the Environment
• Natural Disasters
• General Science