Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)

 DART

DART is a planetary defense-driven test of technologies that will be preventing an impact on the earth by a Hazardous asteroid. DART stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. This DART is launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 24th November in the California Vandenburg space force base. Its goal is to slightly change the motion of the potential asteroid. 

Two different views of the DART spacecraft. The DRACO (Didymos Reconnaissance & Asteroid Camera for OpNav) imaging instrument is based on the LORRI high-resolution imager from New Horizons. The left view also shows the Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) antenna with the ROSAs (Roll-Out Solar Arrays) rolled up. The view on the right shows a clearer view of the NEXT-C ion engine. https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart.

It is the first planetary defense test. NASA is trying something which has not been done before with a spacecraft by anyone. The DART will be impacting the Hazardous asteroid at a speed of 6.6 km/s. This method of deflection is called kinetic impact. DART is going to turn science fiction into a scientific fact that we actually can defend our planet from colliding with other asteroids, even in the future, we might be having missions to save the other planets too. The name of the asteroid on which dart will be colliding with its (ROSA) is Dimorphos.

About two hours later it had successfully completed the unfurling of its two, 28-foot-long, rolled-out solar arrays. This solar panel is named Rolled-Out Solar Panel (ROSA). The solar panel on DART will use the same technology used to test in International Space Station (ISS). The Advanced Physics Laboratory (APL)-developed transformational Solar array technology that has very high-efficiency solar cells and reflective concentrators.

The impact date is 26th of November 2022 as planned by NASA.

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And get to know something new about the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).