There are copious ways the world could end, most of them with humans at fault. However, our vast and uncaring solar system could also bring about mass extinction on earth. Countless asteroids like the one that killed the dinosaurs speed through the void, many passing close to our own blue marble.

Telescopes can spot an impending asteroid impact, but what good is a warning that we’re going to be hit if all we can do is wait for the inevitable?

The bright minds at NASA are working on a solution to protect our planet from falling rocks of doom. Their plan: smack an asteroid hard enough that it changes course. According to NASA, on Sept. 26, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test did just that. A spacecraft the size of a vending machine crashed into the asteroid, Dimorphos, at a speed exceeding 4 miles per second. Scientists around the world were enthralled by images from the craft of a ball of rubble growing ever larger and cheered when the feed cut to red.

To be clear, Dimorphos is not going to hit earth. Astronomers will measure how the asteroid was affected by the impact in the coming months.

So, why are valuable taxpayer dollars being funneled into such a wasteful test? Hasn’t it been 65 million years since a large asteroid hit earth?

The probability of needing to redirect an asteroid is low, and the cost high, but the ability to save our home is priceless. If humanity is caught unprepared, it’s game over. Governments around the world have spent billions on nuclear weapons that were never used. This time, the arms race is against the almighty universe itself.

Even if such a system is never used, the technology will help pave the way toward humanity’s future in space. The same asteroids that could kill us are full of minerals waiting to be mined. What will start as a niche weapon has the potential to give us access to the unfathomable amount of untapped resources floating through the void.