The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will help determine if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which will help determine if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1:21 a.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 24 (10:21 p.m. PST Tuesday, Nov. 23) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This illustration is of the DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LICIACube prior to impact at the Didymos binary system.
DART is the agency’s first planetary defense test mission and the target asteroid is not a threat to Earth.
Learn more about social media and other activities for the mission.
Image Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins, APL/Steve Gribben