Skip to content

1. This is NASA’s first planetary defense test mission

This graphic shows the impactor hitting the moonlet of asteroid Didymos. Earth-based observatories would collect data on the resulting changes to the moonlet’s orbit.
This graphic shows the impactor hitting the moonlet of asteroid Didymos. Earth-based observatories would collect data on the resulting changes to the moonlet’s orbit. Illustration: Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is NASA’s first attempt to deliberately alter the orbital characteristics of a distant celestial body. Built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the car-sized DART spacecraft will attempt to alter the speed of Dimorphos—a tiny asteroid—by smashing right into it. This asteroid is junior member of a binary asteroid system known as Didymos. DART will not survive, but that’s okay; NASA is testing the technologies required to prevent a potentially dangerous asteroid from smashing into Earth.

Related Articles