DART | The first mission to defend Earth from asteroids enters the final phase

The world’s first mission to test planetary defense techniques, the DART spacecraft of the NASA, is already prepared at the Vandenberg Base (California) to be launched at the end of November.

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DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) was transported over two days from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and arrived in Vandenberg on October 2.

The spacecraft will undergo one, as well as its refueling in the coming weeks, as the team prepares for the DART launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

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In mid-September, the spacecraft successfully underwent a pre-shipment review to ensure each piece was complete and ready for shipment. The DART team also successfully underwent a flight operational readiness review, to assess its readiness to begin spacecraft operations once DART enters space.

DART aims to demonstrate a method for asteroid deflection, called kinetic impact. In October 2022, it orbits a larger companion, Didymos, in a binary asteroid system to change its orbital period.

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Inside a clean room at Johns Hopkins APL, the DART spacecraft was moved into a specialized shipping container for transfer to Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California, where DART is scheduled to launch. (NASA / JOHNS HOPKINS APL / ED WHITMAN) (NASA / JOHNS HOPKINS APL / ED WHITMAN /)

Although none of the asteroids pose a threat to Earth, the collision with Dimorphos will allow researchers to demonstrate the deflection technique alongside several new technologies and gather important data to improve our capabilities of

Those improvements will help us better prepare in the event that an asteroid is discovered as a threat to Earth, NASA notes.

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