NASA Ambassador Series:   Planetary Protection and the DART Mission

Tens of thousands of asteroids have orbits that cross Earth’s path. Most pose little or no threat, but occasionally, a large space rock passes between Earth and Moon or even enters Earth’s atmosphere.

How much do we really know about them, and how can we protect ourselves from future encounters? NASA's first planetary defense test mission: DART, successfully assessed our ability to disrupt an asteroid's trajectory by means of a kinetic impact.

Bill Cloutier, our presenter, is a NASA Solar System Ambassador. JPL supports the program with briefings from prominent astronomers, scientists, engineers, technicians and collaborative organizations. Bill is one of the co-founders of the John J. McCarthy Observatory in New Milford, Connecticut.