Asteroid hunters capture footage of NASA smashing into space rock

There is always someone on call, watching the ATLAS telescopes.

The ATLAS survey, or Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, is a system of specialized instruments that sleuth the skies for any space rocks that might be whizzing near Earth. They're on the hunt for unknown, potentially threatening asteroids that pose a threat to our planet. And one of the ATLAS telescopes was in prime position to film NASA intentionally slam a spacecraft into an asteroid on Sept. 26. You can see the unprecedented footage below.