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NASA spacecraft successfully slams into asteroid ten months after SpaceX launch

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2 years ago

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Ten months after launching into interplanetary space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) spacecraft has successfully impacted an asteroid moon.

Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) carrying the 630-kilogram (~1400 lb) spacecraft on November 24th, 2021. The rocket performed flawlessly, continuing a streak of successful launches, and boosted DART on its way to a near-Earth asteroid pair.

The goal: slam into the small asteroid moon Dimorphos at an eyewatering speed of 6.3 kilometers per second (14,000 mph / Mach 18). Ten months later, the spacecraft has accomplished exactly that, successfully crashing into a target about 160 meters (530 ft) wide just 17 meters away from a perfect ‘bullseye’ after traveling for ten months and hundreds of millions of kilometers through space. Depending on the results NASA and dozens of other groups will now attempt to glean from ground and space telescopes, the successful impact could be a major leap forward for the field of planetary defense.

The main goal of planetary defense is to protect humanity’s home planet from asteroids, a threat that has routinely caused mass-extinction events throughout the multibillion-year history of life on Earth. With the technology to both detect and reach virtually all near-Earth objects (NEOs) more or less at hand, DART is the first attempt to test and verify what would seem to be the easiest and most obvious method of redirecting asteroids: knocking them off course with the spacecraft itself.

Planetary science and the behavior of things in microgravity conditions have a tendency to defy expectations, however, so testing that assumption is essential. The perfect way to do so came to DART Lead Investigator Andy Chang in a burst of mid-exercise inspiration: instead of hitting any odd NEO, a small spacecraft could slam into a tiny asteroid moon of a much larger parent asteroid. Hitting an asteroid moon would mitigate the small but nonzero risk of accidentally redirecting the target towards Earth while also amplifying the results, making them much easier to observe from tens of millions of kilometers away.

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Rather than being forced to search for a virtually imperceptible change in a single asteroid’s half-billion-kilometer-long orbit, the results of hitting the right asteroid moon would be much more easily detectable as a change in the moon’s much smaller orbit around its untouched parent asteroid.

The problem is that aside from spectrographic readings that tell scientists the broad strokes of an asteroid’s composition and other telescope images that can make out the rough shape, it’s very difficult to scout the objects without actually visiting them. And given the difficulty, spacecraft have only visited a handful of the virtually countless asteroids of our solar system. Without knowing exactly what a target asteroid’s surface and subsurface are like, it’s hard to predict exactly what a spacecraft impacting that asteroid will do. A looser surface, which is what most visited asteroids appear to have, would be much worse at momentum transfer than a boulder or relatively solid surface of rock.

As an example, as DART rapidly approached and revealed more detailed views of the surface of Didymos and Dimorphos in its final minutes, Chang himself was surprised to see just how rough and boulder-strewn the surface of both asteroids were. Then, after the spacecraft impact, many scientists were also surprised to almost immediately see a massive cloud of dust – easily visible from ground-based telescopes – ejected from Dimorphos.

Despite the DART spacecraft’s eventful demise, the fun has only just begun on the ground as scientists attempt to solve that riddle (and many others) and begin searching for changes in Dimorphos’ orbit. Data will soon arrive from even larger and more prestigious observatories, including NASA’s space-based Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes. Italian companion cubesat LICIACube, which deployed from DART shortly before impact, will also downlink images it took up close, potentially offering the most detailed view of the impact for years.

Meanwhile, the European Space Agency (ESA) is developing a spacecraft called Hera that will launch in 2024 and attempt to enter orbit around Didymos and Dimorphos as early as late 2026 to examine the aftermath of DART’s last stand in even greater detail.

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In the more distant future, particularly if the international science community ultimately concludes that DART did successfully redirect an asteroid (moon), it’s possible that the mission will help to kickstart an entirely new global project and fleet of spacecraft that will stand ready to protect Earth if the need ever truly arises. With a little luck and a modest amount of government funding, humanity may soon be able to entirely eradicate one of the most infamous sources of mass extinction.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla and Arevon team up on 172-Megapack solar plus project

One of Tesla’s largest Megapack sites, the Arevon Eland solar project is supported by an impressive 1.2GWh of Megapacks.

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10 hours ago

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March 17, 2025

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Tesla Megapack
Credit: Tesla

Tesla and partner Arevon have completed the second phase of an energy storage site in Southern California, as highlighted in a short video shared this week.

On Monday, Tesla’s Megapack account on X posted a brief video on the Kern County, California “Eland” storage site, which was recently expanded to offer 300MW/1.2GWh of Megapacks supporting 758MW of solar. The so-called “Eland Solar-plus-Storage Project” site now features 172 Megapack units and 1.36 million solar panels, which the companies have previously said is roughly enough to power 200,000 homes annually.

In the video, Tesla also notes that the facility has site-level controls to regulate power output, “providing a firm resource to the grid,” and supporting the Los Angeles climate goal of reaching 100-percent renewable electricity by 2035. You can check out the clip below.

READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapack project in California housed in former steam plant

Arevon announced the official start of operations for Eland 1 in December with 150MW/600 MWh, and the Eland 2 phase has effectively doubled this. The company also appears to be on track for its targeted opening of Eland 2 in Q1 this year, though it’s not clear at the time of writing if Arevon has yet announced a start of operations for the second phase.

Last February, Arevon announced that it secured a $1.1 billion financial commitment for the remaining parts of the Eland 2 Solar-plus-Storage project, together with Eland 1 becoming one of the largest solar-plus-storage installations in the U.S. The projects also include a long-term purchase agreement from the Southern California Public Power Authority, which plans to facilitate contracts for the LA Department of Water and Power and Glendale Water and Power.

Tesla’s grid-scale Megapack batteries can store and deploy generated energy to the electrical grid, especially during periods of peak power usage, high demand, or outages. Coupled with solar or other energy sources in these kinds of solar-plus-storage sites, Tesla’s Megapacks can help support renewable energy for long periods of time, or at least add stability to the grid.

Over the past couple of years, Tesla has been deploying large-scale Megapack projects in markets around the world, as backed by an initial production facility in Lathrop, California. This “Megafactory” aims to eventually produce 10,000 Megapack units, or 40 GWh, per year, and it has been ramping up production since late 2022.

In November, the Lathrop Megafactory officially produced its 10,000th Megapack, and Tesla also started production at a second Megapack plant in Shanghai, China last month, after starting construction on the site last May. The Shanghai Megafactory is also expected to have a volume annual production of 10,000 units per year.

Additionally, Tesla has teased plans for a third Megafactory, though it has yet to disclose where such a facility would be built.

Tesla’s massive Megapack site near Melbourne is almost ready

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Tesla reveals Cybercab battery pack and range efficiency

Tesla aims to make the Cybercab the most efficient EV available, as executives revealed in an interview this week.

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13 hours ago

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March 17, 2025

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Two of the top Tesla executives recently spoke about the Cybercab in an interview with a longtime manufacturing industry expert, sharing details about the electric vehicle’s (EV’s) battery pack size, range, and more.

On Monday, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy and Senior Design Executive Franz von Holzhausen told manufacturing industry veteran Sandy Munro that Tesla is targeting a battery pack of under 50kWh for the Cybercab, with “close to” 300 miles of real-world range. This would make the two-seater more efficient than any other EV currently in production, partially due to the two-seater’s highly-aerodynamic design.

Munro says he was expecting a battery pack ranging from 55kWh to 60 kWh, noting how much smaller Tesla is aiming to go. Before revealing the range targets, Moravy also detailed how the Cybercab’s aero wheel covers offer optimal aerodynamics to contribute to the impressive efficiency level.

“As much as Franz hates door handles, I hate the wheel-tire interaction, and this is really the best way for us to get the most aerodynamic wheel-tire we could get,” Moravy explains.

From the wheel covers to the overall design, however, von Holzhausen explains how much thought has gone into making the vehicle so efficient—even down to its shape.

“This car is actually really unique in terms of its teardrop shape,” von Holzhausen said. “It’s actually quite narrow in the rear compared to the front. Obviously, you covered the discs, but the aero efficiency is a huge factor in getting to higher range with a smaller battery pack.”

The fact that the vehicle only has two seats also contributes to some of the design choices Tesla was able to implement, as the executive continues to explain.

“Really, because it’s a two-seater we were able to really narrow the hips on this car, and when you come to the rear, you actually start to see how narrow it is, but it’s not unattractive,” he adds.

Credit: Tesla | X

READ MORE ON TESLA CYBERCAB: Tesla reveals design inspiration behind Cybercab’s gold color

Moravy reiterates that Tesla is already starting to install production equipment for the Cybercab at Gigafactory Texas, which was revealed in a shareholder’s letter in late January. He also echoes plans that Tesla is aiming for prototype builds for the Cybercab by this summer, along with a launch event around early 2026.

In recent weeks, increasing numbers of Cybercabs have also been seen testing at Giga Texas, and longtime drone pilot and factory observer Joe Tegtmeyer said that he saw as many as six driving around the site on Monday.

Last month, Moravy also alluded to plans to make the Cybercab “road-trip-capable,” going long distances with wireless charging along the way to make it completely autonomous for passengers.

Along with talking about the Cybercab’s super-efficient design, the two executives also reiterate discussions about the art deco-inspired design of the robotaxi and the larger Robovan, both of which were unveiled in an event in October. Munro and the executives also go on to sit inside the Robovan while talking a bit about its design.

You can see footage from Teslarati‘s first full ride in the Cybercab below, as captured at the “We, Robot” event in Southern California. Or, check out the full Cybercab and Robovan episode from Munro, Moravy, and von Holzhausen below that, clocking in at just under 25 minutes.

Tesla says its Cybercab wireless charging efficiency is ‘well above 90%’

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SpaceX rescue mission for stranded ISS astronauts nears end — Here’s when they’ll return home

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14 hours ago

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March 17, 2025

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is ready to bring home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two astronauts that have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months.

Last week, SpaceX launched its Crew-10 mission, which would dock onto the ISS late Saturday night and be the two astronauts’ ride home. Now, the end is in sight, and it appears both NASA and SpaceX are planning to have the two home this week, perhaps earlier than expected.

SpaceX readies to rescue astronauts from International Space Station

The agency and the company have announced that Dragon will autonomously undock from the ISS on Tuesday at 1:05 a.m. ET and should re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splashdown off the Florida coast about 17 hours later.

SpaceX said:

“SpaceX and NASA are targeting Tuesday, March 18 at 1:05 a.m. ET for Dragon to autonomously undock from the International Space Station. After performing a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison the trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 17 hours later the same day.”

Crew-9 astronaut Nick Hague will be alongside Williams and Wilmore on the flight home, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague and Gorbunov have been in space since Saturday, September 28.

SpaceX was tasked with bringing Wilmore and Williams home after the Boeing Starliner that sent them there was determined not to be suitable for their return.

A report from the New York Post in late August said that Boeing employees routinely made fun of SpaceX workers, only for the company to bail them out:

SpaceX bails out Boeing and employees are reportedly ‘humiliated’

Crew-10 will bring the astronauts home, ending an extensive and unscheduled stay in space.

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