Skip to main content

Asteroid-impacting DART mission deploys a tiny observer satellite

This month, NASA will deliberately crash one of its spacecraft into an asteroid in a test of planetary defense capabilities. The idea of the DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) is to test out what options we might have if we ever spotted a dangerous asteroid headed toward Earth, by seeing whether crashing into an asteroid would be effective at diverting its course.

For the test, the DART spacecraft has been traveling toward a pair of asteroids since its launch in November last year. During that time the craft sent back its first images and the target asteroid was imaged as well. Now, the DART craft has deployed a small satellite that will take photographs as the crash occurs. The satellite, called LICIACube or Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids, was popped free from a spring-loaded box on DART on September 11.

Illustration of NASA’s DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LICIACube prior to impact at the Didymos binary system.
Illustration of NASA’s DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LICIACube prior to impact at the Didymos binary system. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

The deployment of LICIACube is a big moment for a smaller space agency too. The Italian Space Agency provided the satellite in a partnership with NASA.

Recommended Videos

“We are so excited for this — the first time an Italian team is operating its national spacecraft in deep space!” said Simone Pirrotta, LICIACube project manager for the Italian Space Agency, in a statement. “The whole team is fully involved in the activities, monitoring the satellite status and preparing the approaching phase to the asteroid’s flyby. We expect to receive the first full-frame images and to process them a couple of days after DART’s impact. We’ll then use them to confirm impact and to add relevant information about the generated plume — the real precious value of our photos.”

When DART impacts the asteroid, the idea is that LICIACube will be able to capture images of the immediate aftermath using two cameras it has on board: LUKE (LICIACube Unit Key Explorer) and LEIA (LICIACube Explorer Imaging for Asteroid).

“We are excited to have LICIACube on its way — our intrepid little reporter that we hope will make a valuable contribution to DART,” said Andrew Cheng, a lead investigator of DART. “What it will witness and document will provide us unique and important information that we otherwise wouldn’t get to see.”

To gather more information about the effectiveness of the DART test, the European Space Agency mission HERA will follow with a launch in November 2024 to also visit the asteroid system and see in detail the effects of the impact.

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Satellite to follow Empire State Building-sized asteroid as it zips by Earth
ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis

There’s a huge asteroid coming our way in 2029 and the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to track it every step of the way.

Don’t worry, you can look up with confidence, as the 1,230-feet-long (about 375 meters) Apophis asteroid is not on a collision course with Earth. But zipping by at a distance of just 20,000 miles (about 32,000 kilometers), it’ll be coming remarkably close.

Read more
Two asteroids whipped past Earth last week, and researchers snapped images
The Goldstone Solar System Radar, part of NASA’s Deep Space Network, made these observations of the recently discovered 500-foot-wide (150-meter-wide) asteroid 2024 MK, which made its closest approach — within about 184,000 miles (295,000 kilometers) of Earth — on June 29.

The Goldstone Solar System Radar, part of NASA’s Deep Space Network, made these observations of the recently discovered 500-foot-wide (150-meter-wide) asteroid 2024 MK, which made its closest approach — within about 184,000 miles (295,000 kilometers) of Earth — on June 29. NASA/JPL-Caltech

The last week saw not one but two asteroids whip by Earth at close distances -- not so close as to threaten the planet, but close enough for scientists to get a good view of them. Asteroid hunters tracked the pair as they passed by, and they were even imaged by NASA instruments to learn more about asteroids, including those that could potentially threaten Earth in the future.

Read more
What happened when NASA simulated an asteroid hitting Earth
An artist's impression of an asteroid approaching Earth

An artist's impression of an asteroid approaching Earth NASA

What would happen if a huge asteroid were headed toward Earth? Though this might be the topic of innumerable Hollywood movies, it's also a real concern for space agencies like NASA and its Planetary Defense Coordination Office. This is the department responsible for organizing NASA's response to a potentially deadly threat from the skies, and earlier this year it ran the world's most dramatic role-play, simulating what would happen if a dangerous asteroid were spotted on a collision course with the planet.

Read more