NASA’s First Planetary Defense Mission Propelled by Aerojet Rocketdyne
November 24, 2021 | GlobeNewswireEstimated reading time: 1 minute
NASA’s first planetary defense mission—the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)—launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on November 23, equipped with a full suite of Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion. The mission is designed to assess if kinetic impact is a reliable method to deflect asteroids. The DART spacecraft will be flown head-on into an asteroid to change its orbit.
DART’s target is a small secondary body (or “moonlet”) orbiting near-Earth asteroid Didymos that is located approximately 6.8 million miles from Earth. If the impact is successful, the spacecraft is expected to change the orbital period of the moonlet around Didymos by several minutes, demonstrating the mission’s objective and potentially helping to protect Earth from future potential asteroid threats.
“Aerojet Rocketdyne’s role on this mission is two-fold: enabling the DART spacecraft to successfully navigate and impact its target with our chemical propulsion system, and demonstrating an innovative, new electric propulsion technology that could support future deep space, national security space and commercial missions,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen P. Drake.
The roughly 10-month cruise to Didymos will include several course corrections using Aerojet Rocketdyne’s chemical and electric propulsion systems to precisely align the spacecraft with the asteroid. The chemical propulsion system, comprised of 12 MR-103G hydrazine thrusters, is the primary source of propulsion on the spacecraft. Each thruster provides 0.2 pounds of thrust (lbf) to enable trajectory correction maneuvers throughout the cruise phase of the mission.
The spacecraft also features NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster-Commercial (NEXT-C) technology, which will execute propulsive impulses at various stages during the cruise. NEXT-C operates at up to 7kW of power and greater than 4100s specific impulse (Isp). This mission will affirm the capability of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s ion electric propulsion system for future missions, including deep space sample return missions or communication satellites operating in geosynchronous orbit.
NEXT-C was designed and built by Aerojet Rocketdyne in collaboration with NASA’s Glenn Research Center. The chemical propulsion system and electric propulsion xenon feed system were manufactured at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Redmond, Washington, facility. The DART mission is funded by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office and led by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) with support from other industry partners.
Suggested Items
Lockheed Martin Australia, The Department Of Defence Sign Strategic Partnership Head Contract
04/26/2024 | Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin Australia signed a landmark AUD$500 million contract with the Department of Defence to build Australia’s future Joint Air Battle Management System under project - AIR6500 Phase 1 (AIR6500-1).
Cadence, TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
04/25/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsCadence Design Systems, Inc. and TSMC have extended their longstanding collaboration by announcing a broad range of innovative technology advancements to accelerate design, including developments ranging from 3D-IC and advanced process nodes to design IP and photonics.
Siemens’ Breakthrough Veloce CS Transforms Emulation and Prototyping with Three Novel Products
04/24/2024 | Siemens Digital Industries SoftwareSiemens Digital Industries Software launched the Veloce™ CS hardware-assisted verification and validation system. In a first for the EDA (Electronic Design Automation) industry, Veloce CS incorporates hardware emulation, enterprise prototyping and software prototyping and is built on two highly advanced integrated circuits (ICs) – Siemens’ new, purpose-built Crystal accelerator chip for emulation and the AMD Versal™ Premium VP1902 FPGA adaptive SoC (System-on-a-chip) for enterprise and software prototyping.
Taiyo Circuit Automation Installs New DP3500 into Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia
04/25/2024 | Taiyo Circuit AutomationTaiyo Circuit Automation is proud to be partnered with Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia part of the OneTech Group of companies, a leading printed circuit board manufacturer based out of Bizerte, Tunisia, on their first installation of Taiyo Circuit Automation DP3500 coater.
Vicor Power Orders Hentec Industries/RPS Automation Pulsar Solderability Testing System
04/24/2024 | Hentec Industries/RPS AutomationHentec Industries/RPS Automation, a leading manufacturer of selective soldering, lead tinning and solderability test equipment, is pleased to announce that Vicor Power has finalized the purchase of a Pulsar solderability testing system.