Our Contribution

First Planetary Defense Test Mission

DART’s target was the Didymos binary asteroid system, consisting of Didymos itself, about a half-mile across, and a smaller companion called Dimorphos, about 530 feet across.

Launched Nov. 24, 2021, from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California, DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) used an autonomous targeting system to aim itself at Dimorphos. DART impacted Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022, striking the smaller body at just over four miles per second and successfully altering Didymos’ orbit around Dimorphos by 32 minutes. Telescopes on Earth imaged the asteroid system to measure the change in Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos.

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Mission Area

Double Asteroid Redirection Test
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Spacecraft and Instruments

APL built DART and the spacecraft’s single instrument, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO). Based on the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on the New Horizons spacecraft, DRACO not only snapped images of Didymos and Dimorphos on approach but also supported the autonomous optical navigation for the DART spacecraft.

DART incorporated several new technologies. Leveraging decades of missile-guidance expertise, APL developed the Small-body Maneuvering Autonomous Real-Time Navigation (SMART Nav) algorithms to autonomously direct the spacecraft toward its target. In DART’s final hours, SMART Nav guided DART and, using images from DRACO, identified and distinguished between Dimorphos and Didymos.

A ride-along CubeSat named LICIACube, built by the Italian Space Agency, separated from DART 10 days before impact to image the collision and the ejected debris.

DRACO technicians working in a lab

DRACO Asteroids

The Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) provided asteroid imaging and spacecraft navigation on the first planetary defense mission.
Learn more about DRACO

Mission Facts

Launch
November 2021

Impact at Dimorphos
September 2022

Project Manager
Edward Reynolds, Johns Hopkins APL

 

Investigation Co-leads
Andrew Rivkin and Andrew Cheng, Johns Hopkins APL

Program Scientist
Thomas Statler, NASA Headquarters

DART satellite
An interactive, 3D rendering of the DART spacecraft. Click on the image and drag to see all angles of the spacecraft.

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