DART mission resources for space fans and the press

Get hyped: NASA has launched a spacecraft that will intentionally smash into an asteroid, testing our ability to stop dangerous space rocks from hitting the Earth.

DART, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, lifted off at 1:21 a.m. EST (06:21 UTC) on Nov. 24.

Defending Earth from asteroids and comets is one of The Planetary Society’s top priorities. We'll be cheering DART on as it makes its 10-month journey to Dimorphos, the small moon of asteroid Didymos.

We have an extensive collection of unique DART and planetary defense resources you won’t find anywhere else. Are you a space fan? Become the DART expert of your social circle using our materials! Are you a member of the press? Our background research, expert quotes and multimedia assets can give your stories unique depth.

🚀 The DART mission

• Mission page: why DART matters

• DART and the history of planetary defense

• How much does DART cost?

☄️ Defending Earth from impacts

• A topic introduction

• Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye on defending Earth (quotable!)

• How NASA’s planetary defense budget grew by 4000% in 10 years

• Learn about asteroid Apophis, which will barely miss Earth in 2029

• Will an asteroid hit Earth? Your questions answered.

• Why an asteroid strike is like a pandemic, by senior space policy adviser Casey Dreier

• Notable asteroid impacts in Earth’s history

🛰️ Related missions

• The European Space Agency’s Hera followup mission
• NASA’s upcoming NEO Surveyor asteroid-hunting space telescope 
• NASA’s NEOWISE asteroid hunter

📻 Planetary Radio: quotable one-on-one interviews with transcripts

• DART mission preview with Nancy Chabot, DART mission coordination lead and chief planetary scientist for JHUAPL
  

• DART and planetary defense space policy with Lindley Johnson, NASA's planetary defense coordination officer

• A Planetary Society-hosted discussion at the 2021 Planetary Defense Conference
  

📺 Video: our staff and other experts break down key topics

• How to prevent an asteroid from hitting Earth, with Planetary Society chief scientist Bruce Betts

• “Defending Earth!” A Planetary Society webinar, with Amy Mainzer, lead of NASA’s upcoming NEO Surveyor asteroid-hunting mission

• Star Trek actor and Planetary Society board member Robert Picardo interviews Amy Mainzer

💻 Interactive website

• Asteroid close calls interactive infographic: see the large asteroids that will fly or have flown closer to Earth than the Moon.

🖼️ Infographics, artwork and pictures

• See five asteroids that have passed or will pass closer to Earth than our geostationary communications satellites.

• Planetary Society-created artist’s concept of asteroid Apophis using real shape models, free for non-commercial use: Apophis in space and Apophis next to the New York City skyline.

• Infographic: An asteroid this way comes

• Infographic: Defending Earth

🪐 How The Planetary Society combats the asteroid threat

• We sponsor asteroid hunters, make policy recommendations, produce educational resources and courses, and sponsor the biannual Planetary Defense conference

• Shoemaker NEO Grants: Since 1997 we’ve awarded $440,000 through 62 grants to amateur and professional astronomers from 19 countries on 6 continents. Meet our 2019 winners here and see our most recent (closed) request for proposals.

• How our Shoemaker grant winners help the world find, track and characterize dangerous asteroids (video)

• Submission to the 2023 - 2032 planetary science decadal survey: Increasing the Scope of Planetary Defense Activities: Programs, Strategies, and Relevance in a Post-COVID-19 World (PDF)

• Take our Asteroid Defense 101 course

• Read our policy principles