The DART mission, which stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, is a NASA spacecraft mission designed to test and demonstrate the capability to alter the trajectory of an asteroid in space. The target of this mission is the binary asteroid system named Didymos. DART aims to impact the smaller moonlet, known as "Dimorphos" or "Didymoon," that orbits Didymos. By impacting the moonlet at a high speed, DART will alter its velocity and observe any resulting change in its orbit around the larger asteroid. This mission is a part of NASA's planetary defense efforts to develop techniques for deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth in the future. The data collected from DART will provide valuable insights into asteroid deflection strategies and help inform future planetary defense initiatives.
