Double Asteroid Redirection Test

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was a NASA space mission aimed at testing a method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects (NEOs). It was designed to assess how much a spacecraft impact deflects an asteroid through its transfer of momentum when hitting the asteroid head-on. The 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 from Earth. The collision shortened Dimorphos's orbit by 32 minutes, greatly in excess of the pre-defined success threshold of 73 seconds. 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.

MainTimelineWikipediaGalleryBibliographyTableSearch

2021 Website,  Wikimedia, Wikidata
DART; NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test
space mission, Falcon 9 Block 5, 

​

Location: KML, Cluster Map, Maps,

2021-11-24T00:00:00Z

2021-11-24T00:00:00Z

2021 Double Asteroid Redirection Test

2022-09-26T00:00:00Z

2022-09-26T00:00:00Z

impact

2021-11-24T00:00:00Z

2021-11-24T00:00:00Z

rocket launch

{"selectable":false,"showCurrentTime":false,"width":"100%","zoomMin":100000000000}

Frameless

Double Asteroid Redirection Test

The recently installed Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) on dart mission

LICIACube CubeSat a companion satellite of Dart Spacecraft

LICIACube CubeSat integrating on Dart Spacecraft

LICIACube CubeSat integrated on Dart Spacecraft

The flexible and rollable “wings” are lighter and more compact than traditional solar arrays despite their size; in space, each array will slowly unfurl to reach 28 feet in length, about the size of a bus.

Dart header 2 (1)

Dart's ion thrusters

Infographic showing the effect of DART's impact on the orbit of Didymos B while deployment of italian LICIACube

Dart-poster3

• The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART): Planetary Defense Investigations and Requirements - scholarly article, 2021, online
• The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission electric propulsion trade - , Q1860, 2017, online
• AIDA DART asteroid deflection test: Planetary defense and science objectives - article published in 2018, Q1860, online
• Libration-induced Orbit Period Variations Following the DART Impact - scholarly article, 2021
• A spaceship punched an asteroid — we’re about to learn what came next - scientific article published on 4 October 2024
• A spaceship punched an asteroid — we’re about to learn what came next - scientific article published on 4 October 2024
• European component of the AIDA mission to a binary asteroid: Characterization and interpretation of the impact of the DART mission - , Q1860, 2018
• Modeling impact outcomes for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission - , 2017
• DART Impact: Setting Constraints Using the Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation - conference article published in March 2023, Q1860
• Morphology and spectral properties of the DART impact ejecta with VLT/MUSE - scientific article published in March 2023
• Radar observations and a physical model of binary near-Earth asteroid 65803 Didymos, target of the DART mission - scientific article published on 15 September 2020, Q1860

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
commons	image		Double Asteroid Redirection Test		Commons
commons	image		The recently installed Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) on dart mission		Commons
commons	image		LICIACube CubeSat a companion satellite of Dart Spacecraft		Commons
commons	image		LICIACube CubeSat integrating on Dart Spacecraft		Commons
commons	image		LICIACube CubeSat integrated on Dart Spacecraft		Commons
commons	image		The flexible and rollable “wings” are lighter and more compact than traditional solar arrays despite their size; in space, each array will slowly unfurl to reach 28 feet in length, about the size of a bus.		Commons
commons	image		Dart header 2 (1)		Commons
commons	image		Dart's ion thrusters		Commons
commons	image		Infographic showing the effect of DART's impact on the orbit of Didymos B while deployment of italian LICIACube		Commons
commons	image		Dart-poster3		Commons