(CNN) — The early warning system to detect asteroids that pose a threat to Earth, operated by NASA and its collaborators around the world, got to flex its muscles. It successfully detected a ...

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft rocketed away on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA two years ago.

The early warning system to detect asteroids that pose a threat to Earth, operated by NASA and its collaborators around the world, got to flex its muscles.

Researchers want to know whether Dart — short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test — left a crater or perhaps reshaped the 500-foot (150-meter) asteroid more dramatically.