![](http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/571D8BA7-A9D3-4A21-827E-CECE7053A1AC/2HKJFHW.jpg)
NASA DART spacecraft launch preparation
Technicians lowering NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft onto a work stand inside the Astrotech Space Operations Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA, following its arrival at the facility on 4th October 2021. Once secured on its stand, the spacecraft will undergo a series of tests and checks to confirm it is ready for launch. The DART spacecraft will crash into the asteroid Didymos in an experiment to see if the Earth might be protected against an asteroid collision by changing an asteroid's orbit. DART is scheduled for launch on the 24th November 2021.
Size: 4828px × 7234px
Location:
Photo credit: © NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -earth, 2021, america, american, asteroid, astronomical, astronomy, astrotech, base, binary, california, corp, dart, defence, defense, didymos, dimorphos, double, exploration, facility, force, launch, lsp, mission, nasa, north, october, operations, people, planetary, pre-launch, preparation, preparing, program, projectile, protection, redirection, services, space, spacecraft, states, technician, technologies, test, united, usa, vandenberg, vsfb