NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the agencys first planetary defense test mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). The mission will help determine if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course. DARTs target asteroid is not a threat to Earth.
DART is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1:20 a.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 24 (10:20 p.m. PST Tuesday, Nov. 23) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Live launch coverage will begin at 12:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021 (9:30 p.m. PST Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021), on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agencys website, with prelaunch and science briefings beginning Sunday, Nov. 21.
The spacecraft is designed to direct itself to impact an asteroid while traveling at a speed of roughly 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kilometers per hour). Its target is the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos (Greek for two forms), which orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos (Greek for twin). In fall 2022, DART will impact Dimorphos to change its orbit within the Didymos binary asteroid system. The Didymos system is the ideal candidate for DART because it poses no actual impact threat to Earth, and scientists can measure the change in Dimorphos orbit with ground-based telescopes.
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, all media participation in news conferences will be remote. Please refer to NASAs media accreditation policy for teleconferences and onsite activities. A phone bridge will be provided for each briefing. Media and the public also may refer to the DART press kit
