“DART NASA” is one of the phrases that Google has set up with a special effect, illustrating the mission of a spacecraft that redirects an asteroid.
The spacecraft appears and strikes the screen when users search for the term “DART NASA.” (Photo: HN).
Typing the phrase “DART NASA” into Google and hitting search will show users results related to a space mission by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). However, just a few seconds later, the results screen will display a spacecraft flying across, exploding, and distorting the screen.
This is one of Google’s hidden features, or “easter eggs”, that the search giant has set up for certain events or prominent keywords, incorporating special effects that change the results display.
DART, which stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, is NASA’s first mission to test the ability to redirect an asteroid in the event of a potential collision with Earth.
In September 2022, the DART spacecraft collided with Dimorphos, a 160-meter-diameter asteroid orbiting the larger Didymos, which has a diameter of 780 meters. The collision was observed by multiple observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope.
The spacecraft accurately struck a relatively small target, despite traveling at speeds over 22,500 km/h, altering the orbital period of Dimorphos around Didymos. Before the impact, Dimorphos took about 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit Didymos. After the collision, this period was reduced to approximately 11 hours and 20 minutes, with the asteroid now moving about 2.7 mm/s slower. The shape of Dimorphos’s orbit was also altered by the collision.
These changes may seem minor, but in the case of an asteroid threatening Earth, such a shift could be sufficient to avoid a collision.
“a long time ago in a galaxy far far away” is one of Google’s most impressive hidden features. (Photo: thenextweb).
Besides “DART NASA,” Google has previously introduced various other hidden features. For instance, the phrase “a long time ago in a galaxy far far away” once created a black screen with yellow text scrolling vertically, reminiscent of the introduction in the Star Wars series. However, this “easter egg” has now been disabled.
Some phrases that still activate hidden features include “google in 1998”, which switches the interface back to the Google generation from three decades ago, “do a barrel roll”, which makes the webpage spin, and “Cha Cha Slide”, which causes the webpage to continuously distort to the rhythm of the dance when users click on icons appearing in the search results. Additionally, Google also contains hidden games such as “Pacman,” “Solitaire,” and “Snake.”
