NASA reveals plans of the first planetary defense mission in history

The DART mission is the first planetary defense initiative aimed at demonstrating a kinetic impact on an asteroid. Targeting the 150-meter moonlet Didymos B, which orbits a larger asteroid, the mission seeks to alter its speed and direction. The spacecraft, equipped with an autonomous navigation system, will crash into the moonlet at 6 km/s. Scheduled for launch in June 2021, the impact is expected by October 2022.

What will guide the spacecraft during its mission?

When is the DART spacecraft scheduled to launch?