Proving deflection

Later this year, NASA is set to launch its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which will fly out to asteroid Didymos and conduct a controlled, high-speed impact on the asteroid’s smaller companion rock, Dimorphos, which is about 160 meters in diameter. The impact will nudge the target just a tiny bit, but enough that telescopes on ground can measure the resulting deflection and assess if the technique works.

In 2024, ESA’s Hera spacecraft will conduct its own mission to Didymos. It will survey the DART impact crater, determine the asteroid’s mass with extreme precision and characterise its properties, composition and structure.

The complimentary science results from both missions together will enable humanity to be confident in our capability to employ asteroid kinetic impact deflection as a proven planetary defence technique.