Names | DART |
---|---|
Mission type | Planetary defense mission |
Operator | NASA / APL |
COSPAR ID | 2021-110A |
SATCAT no. | 49497 |
Website | |
Mission duration | 10 months and 1 day
|
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft |
|
Manufacturer | Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University |
Launch mass |
|
Dimensions |
|
Power | 6.6 kW |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 24 November 2021, 06:21:02 UTC[1] |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5, B1063.3 |
Launch site | Vandenberg, SLC-4E |
Contractor | SpaceX |
Dimorphos impactor | |
Impact date | 26 September 2022, 23:14 UTC[2][3] |
Flyby of Didymos system | |
Spacecraft component | LICIACube (deployed from DART) |
Closest approach | 26 September 2022, ~23:17 UTC |
Distance | 56.7 kilometres (35.2 mi) |
Instruments | |
Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) | |
Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was a NASA space mission aimed at testing a method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects (NEOs).[4][5] It was designed to assess how much a spacecraft impact deflects an asteroid through its transfer of momentum when hitting the asteroid head-on.[6] The selected target asteroid, Dimorphos, is a minor-planet moon of the asteroid Didymos; neither asteroid poses an impact threat to Earth, but their joint characteristics made them an ideal benchmarking target. Launched on 24 November 2021, the DART spacecraft successfully collided with Dimorphos on 26 September 2022 at 23:14 UTC about 11 million kilometers (0.074 astronomical units; 29 lunar distances; 6.8 million miles) from Earth. The collision shortened Dimorphos' orbit by 32 minutes, greatly in excess of the pre-defined success threshold of 73 seconds.[7][8][9] DART's success in deflecting Dimorphos was due to the momentum transfer associated with the recoil of the ejected debris, which was substantially larger than that caused by the impact itself.[10]
DART was a joint project between NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The project was funded through NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, managed by NASA's Planetary Missions Program Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center, and several NASA laboratories and offices provided technical support. The Italian Space Agency contributed LICIACube, a CubeSat which photographed the impact event, and other international partners, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), are contributing to related or subsequent projects.[11]
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