DART, or the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, will be the first spacecraft to land against celestial objects in an attempt to deflect their path. Specifically, it will land against Didymos, a binary asteroid system. The network is 780 meters wide and has a satellite orbiting it. It is approximately 11 million kilometers from Earth.
This spacecraft will be launched from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch took place in California. The space agency intends to investigate the kinetic impact of a potential asteroid threat. If the mission goes as planned, the spacecraft will travel for almost a year, covering 11 million kilometers. The expedition could achieve its goal of impacting the asteroid Dimorphos. The collision is expected to occur at a speed of 6.6 kilometers per second.
For this purpose, a camera called DRACO has been designed, which has independent navigation software. This tool could facilitate the mission's impact. "The collision will change the speed of the small moon in its orbit around the main body by a fraction of one percent, which will serve to change its orbital period by several minutes, enough to be observed and measured with telescopes on Earth," NASA explains.
The area where the impact will occur will approach the countries of Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria. It will be monitored by telescopes and planetary radars that will closely monitor the maneuvers. In addition, each movement will be recorded audiovisually.