Bam NASA's Dart Spacecraft Slams Into Moonlet In Asteroid System

Space.com

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impacted the 'moonlet' Dimorphos in the Didymos asteroid system. Watch the final moments of the spacecraft's existence and reaction from the team at John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.   Credit: NASA

Transcript

00:00The team is standing just recognizing this moment, years in the making.

00:09It is really nice to see them relax a little bit, get off from those computers that they've

00:14been glued to and just appreciate this moment that's coming.

00:17Yeah, and they've earned this.

00:19It's just great to see them there.

00:22This is so cool.

00:24Lori, we hit another major milestone.

00:26We are now two minutes and a half from impact and SMARTNAV has stopped maneuvering the spacecraft.

00:32DART is now coasting toward Dimorphos and we hope into the history books.

00:37Absolutely.

00:39This will be, I'm sure you've heard it many times tonight, humanity's first ever, ever

00:45attempt at trying to move another celestial body and also our first attempt ever to execute

00:51a mission of sole purpose of planetary defense.

00:55So, what an exciting, exciting time.

00:58Yeah, and I'm starting to see Dimorphos start to come into view there.

01:01You can see it's starting to take shape.

01:03I'm starting to see individual boulders on Didymos.

01:06Unbelievable, unbelievable clarity of images there.

01:11We're coasting on in.

01:12Our projected missed distance is going to be about 17 meters.

01:14All right.

01:15All eyes on this event.

01:24Space telescopes, ground telescopes from every continent on Earth.

01:28Yeah.

01:29Yeah.

01:30All right.

01:32Two minutes out.

01:34Does not look like one single rock to me.

01:37Boy, we're getting close.

01:3914,000 miles per hour, Lori.

01:4214,000 miles per hour and remember, you know, 45 minutes ago, 55 minutes ago, we couldn't

01:49even resolve this object in space and now we are, you can see us zeroing in right on

01:56target.

01:57And we're now dropping the clock and we'll go by loss of signal to confirm impact.

02:02Right.

02:03Yes.

02:04Imagine we'll get that loss of signal and then we'll hear from Lena Adams again letting

02:10us know that we've been successful.

02:13I feel like we'll know.

02:14I feel like that'll be a crystal clear signal.

02:17I think so.

02:19I think we're starting to see more resolution.

02:23In fact, look at that.

02:24Didymos has even gone out of the view.

02:26We're now just seeing dimorphous.

02:28This is remarkable stuff.

02:33Oh, my goodness.

02:34Look at that.

02:35Looks like control systems settling down.

02:37Angular rates look really good.

02:39I think we're going to get the investigation team some good pictures.

02:44Wow.

02:46No, no.

02:47Come on.

02:48We can do better than that.

02:50Starting to see those individual boulders there.

02:53You can see shadows.

02:55Almost 30 seconds until impact.

02:57It's amazing, guys.

03:00Oh, my goodness.

03:01Look at that.

03:03Unbelievable.

03:04Yeah.

03:07Looks to me like we're headed straight in.

03:17Oh, my gosh.

03:18Oh, wow.

03:20Yeah.

03:21Oh, my goodness.

03:23Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

03:32Oh, my gosh.

03:34Oh, wow.

03:36Awaiting visual confirmation.

03:41All right.

03:44We got it?

03:45Waiting.

03:46Waiting.

03:48Come on.

03:49And we have impact.

03:51A giant leap for humanity in the name of planetary defense.

03:56Fantastic.

03:58Oh, fantastic.

04:05What a moment.

04:06Very few words can really capture this moment.

04:08This is beautiful to watch.

04:18Amazing.

04:19Amazing.

04:20What a team.

04:21What a team and what an accomplishment.

04:23Team.

04:24A few weeks ago they had their last dress rehearsal.

04:26They were getting emotional at the dress rehearsal.

04:29They're like, this is crazy.

04:30We're getting emotional.

04:31This is not the real thing.

04:32I can only imagine what they are feeling right now.

04:36Yes.

04:38Well, you can see them there on screen.

04:40They're all pretty excited.

04:42Wow.

04:45Hearing impact.

04:46The curtains close on Draco feed.

04:49That raw joy from the team.

04:51Years of hard work and the weight of expectation lifted off their shoulders.

04:55This is amazing.

05:00Congratulations.

05:01Congratulations.

05:02Congratulations.

05:07This is beautiful.

05:08And Lori, really, this is a huge moment for the mission.

05:12Lots more work needs to happen in the days and weeks and months.

05:16Absolutely.

05:17Now, as I always say, it's one of my favorite missions.

05:19Now is when the science starts.

05:21It just starts now.

05:23Now that we've impacted, now we're going to see for real how effective we were.

05:29We're going to train all of those ground-based telescopes on the Didymos Dimorphos system.

05:35And we're going to make measurements that will help us determine just how,

05:41what its orbit looks like now relative to what it was before.

05:44So, it's going to be great.

05:46Very cool.

05:48Lori, this is when science, engineering, and a great purpose, planetary defense, come together.

05:54And, you know, it makes a magical moment like this.

05:58Yeah.

05:59Absolutely.

06:00And you can see so many people there that have made this happen.

06:04The team of APL engineers that have really poured their souls into this mission.

06:12Lori, any last words to mark this historic moment?

06:17We're embarking on a new era of humankind,

06:23an era in which we potentially have the capability to protect ourself

06:29from something like a dangerous, hazardous asteroid impact.

06:33What an amazing thing.

06:34We've never had that capability before.

06:36Thank you so much, Lori.

06:37Those are poignant last words.

06:39Tahira, history has been made.

06:42Back to you.

06:46Wow.

06:47I mean, what an exciting day for the DART team.

06:51And in case you're keeping score, humanity, one, asteroids, zero.

06:58Now, I'm here with Nancy Chabot, DART coordination lead.

07:01Nancy, talk about a moment to catch on camera.

07:05What is going through your head right now?

07:07I mean, I'm just thinking, wow, that was amazing, wasn't it?

07:10I mean, those images, you just got closer and closer.

07:13And sort of we've been planning for this moment,

07:15we've been talking about it for years.

07:17At APL here, we've been working on this since 2015.

07:20And I knew, I've been talking, this is the images that we're going to see

07:23and they're going to be spectacular.

07:24And I think even then they exceeded my expectations of just zooming in like that.

07:29And, you know, it really is just such the team accomplishment

07:32and to get to this moment over so many years.

07:35And I don't have to talk about it as coming anymore.

07:37It's happened now.

07:38We have done this.

07:39It's happened.

07:40And it is just incredible that as humans, like we have done this.

07:45We did this.

07:46And, Nancy, do you have anything you'd like to say to the teams

07:49who made tonight possible?

07:51Oh, I mean, I don't need to say anything to the teams

07:53because I know everybody like me is really proud to be part of this, right?

07:56Proud of this thing that we've been working on for years.

07:59And even before 2015, internationally, people wanted to do this.

08:03People wanted to take this first test.

08:05And then we finally did.

08:06Partners across the United States.

08:08We have actually 28 countries represented on our investigation team of scientists.

08:12Telescopes on all seven continents.

08:14Everybody doing their part to make this moment happen.

08:18I know I'm really honored to be on this team,

08:22and I know other people on the team feel the same way.

08:24As you should, Nancy.

08:26And, I mean, there's a lot to celebrate here tonight.

08:29And so now that we have confirmed impact,

08:32can you let us know what's next for this mission?

08:35Well, I mean, I think I'm still taking a moment here.

08:39I'm sorry.

08:40Because this is a big deal.

08:42And this was a really hard technology demonstration

08:45to hit a small asteroid we've never seen before

08:47and do it in such spectacular fashion.

08:50But I know other scientists on the team like me

08:53are already pointing at those images being like,

08:55did you see that boulder?

08:56Did you see that smooth area?

08:57Did you see the shape?

08:58What does that mean?

08:59And Lychee Cube is like flying by right about now,

09:02their close approach, like taking images

09:04and they're storing them.

09:05And we'll get those in the next days.

09:07Telescopes here and in space are looking.

09:09They're looking at the brightening of the rock

09:11that's thrown off from that spectacular collision

09:13that we saw.

09:14And this is going to go on for weeks.

09:16And so there's still a lot of excitement to come,

09:18but nothing to take away from this moment.

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