By 
September 26th, 2022
Credit: APL
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is to test and validate today a method to protect Earth in case of an asteroid impact threat.
DART is NASA’s first mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection by a kinetic impactor, one that aims to shift an asteroid’s orbit by smashing a spacecraft into the smaller member of the binary asteroid system Didymos.
Credit: APL
The countdown to DART’s Impact is underway, set for 7:14 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Earth will receive news of DART’s impact roughly 38 seconds after it occurs.
DART’s development was led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. APL is the builder and manager of the DART spacecraft for NASA.
Robert Braun is APL head of the Space Exploration Sector, a division that involves both civilian space exploration as well as national security related space programs.
“Basically, the DART spacecraft is a bullet hitting another bullet. And in this case, a number of air and missile defense experts here at APL joined forces with our space folks to create this mission – the first test of planetary defense mission ever, for the benefit of humanity,” Braun told Inside Outer Space. “This is a huge deal. It’s going to be quite the occasion. One day this could be a game-saver for all of humanity,” he said.
LICACube deployment.
Credit Argotec via Xavier Bellanca
Ringside seat
To monitor DART’s impact, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)-supplied LICIACube was deployed from the DART spacecraft on September 11. This Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids is to capture images of the event and its effects, such as the resulting ejecta cloud. LICIACube will potentially a catch a glimpse of the impact crater on the surface of Dimorphos.
LISACube’s mission control in Italy.
Credit: Argotec via Xavier Bellanca
The design of the LICIACube spacecraft is based on a 6U CubeSat platform developed by the aerospace company Argotec in Turin, Italy. LICIACube will be the first Italian object to go so far in the space, 14 million kilometers from the Earth.
“We do believe that the DART mission represents a turning point for the history of humanity, and we can’t wait to share unique insights with the rest of the world,” said Raffaella Rossi, an Argotec communications officer.
Confidence builder
Looking forward to the test is planetary defense expert, Bill Ailor of The Aerospace Corporation.
“It is a good test. It’s something that we can demonstrate that we can actually hit one of these objects…and also measure the effect on the object that we hit,” Ailor told Inside Outer Space.
Ailor sees DART as a confidence builder by showcasing this ability.
Credit: IAA
However, as a kinetic impact approach, it is limited in its utility, Ailor said. “You are going to use it for smaller objects, generally speaking. We also have nuclear explosives. People generally think that, if you’re going after something of any size, you are going to have to use those. A recommendation to test some of those [nuclear devices] against an asteroid…that’s going to be harder row to hoe,” he added.
Ailor is a key leader in organizing the 8th IAA Planetary Defense Conference to be held in Vienna April 3-7, 2023. The meeting is hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the host country, Austria.
While DART will go out with a bang, the need to maintain an international dialogue on planetary defense continues.
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