Space Zoo Patrol – Planetary Defense

by Mallory DeCoster,  Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (Johns Hopkins APL). Johns Hopkins APL built and managed the DART mission for NASA.

1. What is it called?

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)

2. What does it do?

A NASA mission that both showcased technologies to autonomously navigate a spacecraft to a non-threatening asteroid and perform a kinetic impact (i.e., crash into it) in order to change the asteroid’s orbital period. The goal of this test is to be able to perform this process again with a bigger spacecraft in order to impact a larger and potentially Earth threatening asteroid and alter its orbital path.

3. How does it work?

A 579 kg spacecraft called DART intentionally crashed into a nonthreatening asteroid called Dimorphos at 6.14 km/s (14,000 miles per hour) resulting in large streams of ejected material. This impact slowed down Dimorphos’ orbit around its larger parent asteroid Didymos by about 30 min.

4. How is it better than the older technology?

Before the DART mission a kinetic impact had never been performed. So, this was the first of its kind experiment in space to test this planetary defense technique.

5. What classes should I take in school to work on this?

Take calculus, physics, astrophysics, orbital mechanics, analytical dynamics, geology, mechanics, and learn how to code.

6. Pictures

7. Links

Double Asteroid Redirection Test dart.jhuapl.edu