Assignment 2 Recent Space News

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)

DART Overview:

An on-orbit demonstration of asteroid deflection is a key test that NASA and other agencies wish to perform before any actual need is present. The DART mission is NASA's demonstration of kinetic impactor technology, impacting an asteroid to adjust its speed and path. DART is the first-ever space mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor. The spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Didymos—The Ideal Target for DART's Mission

Mission Target:

DART's target is the binary asteroid system Didymos, which means "twin" in Greek (and explains the word "double" in the mission's name). Didymos is the ideal candidate for humankind's first planetary defense experiment, although it is not on a path to collide with Earth and therefore poses no actual threat to the planet. The system is composed of two asteroids: the larger asteroid Didymos (diameter: 780 meters, 0.48 miles), and the smaller moonlet asteroid, Dimorphos (diameter: 160 meters, 525 feet), which orbits the larger asteroid. Prior to DART's kinetic impact, the orbital period of Dimorphos around Didymos is 11 hours and 55 minutes, and the separation between the centers of the two asteroids is 1.18 kilometers (0.73 miles). The DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos nearly head-on, shortening the time it takes the small asteroid moonlet to orbit Didymos.

DART Partners & Collaborators

Mission Target:

The DART mission is developed and led for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office is the lead for planetary defense activities and is sponsoring the DART mission. Current U.S. partner institutions on DART include NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA Kennedy Space Center, NASA's Launch Services Program, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, SpaceX, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Auburn University, Carnegie Science Las Campanas Observatory, University of Colorado, Las Cumbres Observatory, Lowell Observatory, University of Maryland, New Mexico Tech with Magdalena Ridge Observatory, Northern Arizona University, Planetary Science Institute, and the U.S. Naval Academy. The DART Investigation Team also includes members from institutions across the country and around the world, and a full list is available at the Team Page.