NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission successfully launched on Wednesday at 1:21 a.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. DART is set to impact a known asteroid that is not a threat to Earth with the goal of slightly changing its motion in a way that can be accurately measured using ground-based telescopes. Read more for two videos, including the launch, and additional information.
DART’s method of deflection is called kinetic impact and the team hopes that it will provide important data to help better prepare for an actual asteroid that could potentially be a hazard to Earth. LICIACube, a CubeSat riding with DART and provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), is set to be released prior to impact to capture images of the collision and the resulting cloud of ejected matter.
- Bring to life the rocket launch that took humans to the moon with the meter-high (approximately 1: 110 scale) model rocket of the NASA Apollo Saturn V
- The Saturn V rocket kit includes 3 removable rocket stages (first, s-ii second, and s-ivb third) below the launch escape system, command and service...
- After building the Saturn V rocket, you can display the spacecraft horizontally with 3 stands; The Lunar Lander docks with the command and service...
DART is turning science fiction into science fact and is a testament to NASA’s proactivity and innovation for the benefit of all. In addition to all the ways NASA studies our universe and our home planet, we’re also working to protect that home, and this test will help prove out one viable way to protect our planet from a hazardous asteroid should one ever be discovered that is headed toward Earth,” said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator.
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