Part 4/5:
The Purpose of the DART Mission
A critical component of these planetary defense strategies is the use of kinetic impactors—spacecraft designed to deliberately collide with an asteroid to alter its momentum. The recent DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission exemplifies this approach. Its primary objective was to demonstrate that such a collision could effectively change an asteroid’s trajectory. By ramming a spacecraft into its target, scientists could assess how well they can influence an asteroid’s orbit with minimal effort.
The DART mission serves as a vital proof of concept. Through rigorous testing, it provides invaluable data on how kinetic impacts influence asteroid paths and informs future efforts to develop reliable planetary defense procedures.