DART

Mission

DART’s target is the Didymos binary asteroid system, consisting of Didymos itself, about a half-mile across, and a smaller companion called Dimorphos, about 530 feet across.

Launched Nov. 24, 2021, from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California, DART will use an autonomous targeting system to aim itself at Dimorphos. The spacecraft will strike the smaller body at just over four miles per second. Telescopes on Earth will image the asteroid system to measure the change in Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos.

DART's impact at Dimorphos is scheduled for Sept. 26, 2022.

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Spacecraft and Instruments

APL built DART and the spacecraft’s single instrument, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO). Based on the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on the New Horizons spacecraft, DRACO will not only snap images of Didymos and Dimorphos on approach but will also support the autonomous optical navigation for the DART spacecraft.

DART incorporates several new technologies. Leveraging decades of missile-guidance expertise, APL developed the Small-body Maneuvering Autonomous Real-Time Navigation (SMART Nav) algorithms to autonomously direct the spacecraft toward its target. In DART’s final hours, SMART Nav will guide DART and, using images from DRACO, identify and distinguish between Dimorphos and Didymos.

A ride-along CubeSat named LICIACube, built by the Italian Space Agency, will separate from DART 10 days before impact to image the collision and the ejected debris.

Mission Facts

Launch
November 2021

Impact at Dimorphos
September 2022

Project Manager
Edward Reynolds, Johns Hopkins APL

Investigation Co-leads
Andrew Rivkin and Andrew Cheng, Johns Hopkins APL

Program Scientist
Thomas Statler, NASA Headquarters