What Was NASA's Space DART Mission? Asteroid-Smashing Mission

What Was DART Mission? 

DART mission i.e. Double Asteroid Redirection Test, was a NASA space mission, whose purpose was to save our earth from a devastating impact. In this test, for the first time, an attempt was made to change the path of an asteroid by crashing a spacecraft into it. An original DART orbiter carried only a camera and a smart navigation system, and was aimed at a binary asteroid system "Didymos" and its 160-meter-wide moon, Dimorphos. 

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Ten months after its launch, the orbiter reached its final destination and on 11 September 2022, it released a small satellite named "CubeSat", which was another important part of the mission. The orbiter then targeted the asteroid's moon and the navigation system steered it on a direct collision course at a speed of 24,000 kilometers per hour. Telescopes, both in space and on Earth, were tasked with monitoring its cosmic effects. 

Data gathered with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope and other telescopes enabled scientists to work out what elements the small moon is made of. The orbiter took many pictures while doing its work and sent them to Earth before the collision, and these pictures gave much detailed information about the composition of this rock of space. The small satellite "CubeSat" photographed the entire impact event and took the pictures of collision and the resulting crater as well. Despite being only 570-kilogram in weight, the orbiter also slightly reduced the orbital speed of its target. Telescopes on Earth will be able to see how its orbit has changed over time. 

European Space Agency's "Hera" spacecraft is going to do a more detailed survey after this in 2026, launching to Didymos in 2024 and arriving in 2026. Hera would carry two CubeSats to measure the size, structure, and depth of the crater. The data will show how the physical nature of the Moon affected the outcome of the collision and this will also help in simulations of asteroid impacts. All this knowledge will help in handling any collision situation in the future.