In the early hours of the morning on Wednesday, Nov. 24th, NASAs Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base (SFB) in California. This spacecraft is the worlds very first major objective to demonstrate innovations that might at some point be utilized to safeguard our world from Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) that might potentially hit Earth.
Simply put, the DART objective is a kinetic impactor that will evaluate a proposed technique for deflecting asteroids. Over the next ten months, the DART mission will autonomously browse towards the target asteroid– the binary NEA (65803) Didymos– and intentionally hit it. This will change the asteroids motion so that ground-based telescopes can accurately measure any changes if whatever goes according to plan.
Nov. 23rd, 10:31 PM PST) when the DART objective took off from SLC-4E atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. At 02:17 AM (11:17 PM PST), DART separated from the boosters 2nd phase and began sending out telemetry information back to objectives controllers minutes later.
Fourteen consecutive Arecibo radar images of the near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos and its moonlet. Credit: NASA/Arecibo
The collaborative DART effort was built and is led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL). The mission is managed under NASAs Planetary Defense Coordination Office and Planetary Science Division, with support offered by multiple NASA centers. The mission is compromised of numerous aspects supplied by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and other partner firms. As NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained in a recent NASA press release:
” DART is turning science fiction into science fact and is a testimony to NASAs proactivity and development for the advantage of all. In addition to all the ways NASA studies our universe and our home world, were also working to safeguard that house, and this test will assist show out one viable way to protect our world from a dangerous asteroid should one ever be found that is headed towards Earth.”
” At its core, DART is an objective of preparedness, and it is also a mission of unity,” stated Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “This worldwide cooperation includes DART, ASIs LICIACube, and ESAs Hera investigations and science teams, which will follow up on this revolutionary space objective.”
The mission consists of 2 spacecraft, the 610 kg (1,340 pound) impactor that counts on the NEXT ion thruster, a kind of solar electric propulsion that uses solar arrays to power its NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster– Commercial (NEXT-C) engine. The target for this mission, named for the Greek word “twin,” consists of a bigger main asteroid (65803) called Didymos, and an orbiting moonlet called Dimorphos.
Artists impression of the DART mission rendezvousing with the NEA Didymos. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL
Whereas (65803) Didymos measures about 780 meters (2,560 feet) in diameter, Dimorphos is less than one-quarter the size (160 m; 530 ft). This moonlet will be the main target for DART, which will rendezvous with the system between Sept. 26th and Oct. 1st, 2022. At this time, the binary asteroids orbit will bring it within 11 million km (6.8 million mi) from Earth, where DART will be waiting to hit Dimorphos at a speed of about 6 km/s (4 mi/s).
Scientists estimate that this will reduce Dimorphos orbit around Didymos by a number of minutes, which they will precisely measure utilizing ground-based telescopes. The results will be used to validate and improve the computer designs that are presently utilized to anticipate the outcomes of asteroid deflection. This modification in speed will be far much easier to determine than a change in Didymos orbital speed (thus why Dimorphos was selected).
The DART spacecraft will be accompanied by a second spacecraft called the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube), offered by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). This small CubeSat will piggyback with DART, separate ten days before effect, then capture pictures of the effects impact and the ejecta developed. Roughly 4 years after DART affects the moonlet, the ESAs Hera project will reach Didymos to carry out in-depth studies of both asteroids.
This test will provide essential data that will be utilized to develop improved preparations and strategies for asteroid defense. While Didymos does not currently pose a danger to Earth, it is categorized as a “potentially harmful asteroid.” This designation uses to asteroids measuring 100 m (~ 330ft) or more in size and whose orbit brings them within 0.05 AU (7.5 million km) of Earth.
Artists impression of the Hera mission examining Dimorphos after the DART impact. Credit: ESA/Science Office
In the past, effects by these similarly-sized objects are believed to have triggered termination level events (ELEs), such as the Chicxulub Impact Event that set off the termination of the dinosaurs. As Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer at NASA Headquarters, said:
” We have actually not yet found any significant asteroid impact danger to Earth, but we continue to browse for that large population we understand is still to be discovered. Our goal is to find any possible impact, years to years in advance, so it can be deflected with an ability like DART that is possible with the technology we presently have. DART is one aspect of NASAs work to prepare Earth must we ever be faced with an asteroid risk.” In tandem with this test, we are preparing the Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission, a space-based infrared telescope scheduled for launch later on this decade and developed to accelerate our capability to find and identify the possibly harmful asteroids and comets that come within 30 million miles of Earths orbit.”
Next week, DART will activate the only instrument it carries– the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO)– and take the spacecrafts very first images. In addition to its advanced navigation system, DART will rely on a series of Small-body Maneuvering Autonomous Real Time Navigation (SMART Nav) algorithms. These will allow DART to determine and distinguish in between the 2 asteroids, then direct itself towards Dimorphos.
Image launched by the European Space Agency that reveals DART impacting the binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos. Credit: ESA/AFP
Joan Marie is a science communicator, STEM supporter, and an Aerospace Integration Engineer with the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC). She and her coworkers worked through the night in order to prepare the DART mission for launch at Vandenburg SFB. “It felt remarkable,” she said. “Being able to see (aesthetically) the effort our group put into this launch was an unbelievable sensation.”
Also present was Andy Cheng, one of the DART investigation leads at JHUAPL and the person who came up with the idea of DART. As he described it, seeing the mission he developed take flight was a dream come real:
This is just the end of the first act, and the DART investigation and engineering teams have much work to do over the next year preparing for the primary occasion? DARTs kinetic effect on Dimorphos.
Additional Reading: NASA
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Put merely, the DART mission is a kinetic impactor that will assess a proposed technique for deflecting asteroids. Over the next 10 months, the DART mission will autonomously navigate towards the target asteroid– the binary NEA (65803) Didymos– and purposefully collide with it. Approximately four years after DART affects the moonlet, the ESAs Hera project will show up at Didymos to conduct in-depth surveys of both asteroids.
DART is one element of NASAs work to prepare Earth needs to we ever be faced with an asteroid threat. Next week, DART will trigger the only instrument it brings– the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO)– and take the spacecrafts first images.
