Scientist working on a computer with lab in background

Planetary Defense

Developing the Means to Prevent an Asteroid Collision

Thousands of near-Earth asteroids come within relatively close proximity of Earth’s orbit, many large enough to cause significant damage should they collide with the planet. While only a fraction of those asteroids could potentially pose a threat, asteroid impacts have happened many times in Earth’s long history and could potentially happen again.

To get ahead of this potential threat, APL is joining NASA and others to ensure we have the capabilities to defend Earth should the threat of an asteroid impact ever arise again. APL has a long history of studying asteroids. Our engineers and scientists built NASA’s first asteroid reconnaissance spacecraft, NEAR Shoemaker, which became the first mission to ever orbit and land on an asteroid.

APL lead NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the agency’s first-of-its-kind planetary defense test mission. It intentionally crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid that wasn’t on a collision course with Earth to demonstrate whether we could redirect an asteroid and prevent a cataclysmic collision.

Expertise in Action

Missions

DART Asteroids

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was NASA’s first planetary defense test mission.

Learn more about DART

NEAR Asteroids

The first launch in NASA’s Discovery program, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) was the first mission to orbit and land on an asteroid.

Learn more about NEAR

Instruments

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

This video demonstrates how the spin-up of asteroid Didymos could have led to the growth of its equatorial ridge and the formation of the smaller asteroid Dimorphos

DART Forward: Five Papers Shed New Light on Asteroids From World’s First Planetary Defense Test Jul 30, 2024

In five new Nature Communications papers, the team behind NASA’s successful DART mission sheds new light on the structure and origins of the asteroid system encountered in 2022. Researchers from Johns Hopkins APL and several international partner institutions provide a detailed overview and interpretation of the geological findings at Didymos and Dimorphos.

Watch

Representatives from NASA, FEMA, and the planetary defense community participate in the 5th Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise to inform and assess our ability as a nation to respond effectively to the threat of a potentially hazardous asteroid or comet. (Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

Johns Hopkins APL Conducts Exercise to Simulate Global Asteroid Impact Response Jul 9, 2024

NASA has released a summary of the fifth iteration of a Planetary Defense U.S. Government Interagency Tabletop Exercise, which was held at APL in April. The two-day exercise brought together domestic and international leaders to discuss, coordinate and evaluate a global response to a simulated asteroid impact threat to Earth.

Wilson, Chen Honored With Women of Color Awards Jan 25, 2024

Two Johns Hopkins APL staff members were recognized with 2023 Women of Color STEM awards. The annual awards honor promising innovators and inventors who have made an impact in their respective disciplines while also demonstrating a commitment to mentoring and encouraging women in STEM fields.

DART Team Earns Smithsonian Michael Collins Trophy for Successful Planetary Defense Test Mission Nov 7, 2023

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will be honored with the 2024 Michael Collins Trophy for Current Achievement. For its work developing and managing the first-ever planetary defense test mission, the team at Johns Hopkins APL and NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) is being lauded for outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology.

Artistic depiction of DART's impact moments before it occurred (Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Jon Emmerich)

From Impact to Innovation: A Year of Science and Triumph for Historic DART Mission Sep 26, 2023

Last fall, the world watched as the DART spacecraft — the Double Asteroid Redirection Test — guided itself toward the asteroid Dimorphos for a direct collision, a major technical achievement and the first successful planetary defense test in history. As a part of NASA’s overall planetary defense strategy, DART’s impact with the asteroid Dimorphos demonstrated a viable mitigation technique for protecting the planet from an Earth-bound asteroid, if one were discovered. Revisit DART’s triumphant collision with Dimorphos and the resulting year of science analysis and discoveries that followed.

Space Science and Engineering