Ed Reynolds "Lessons from Failure and Success" Virginia Tech ECE Colloquium

In September 2022, NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test impacted the asteroid moon Dimorphos and for the first time humans had redirected the trajectory of a celestial body. The purpose of the test was to demonstrate that simple kinetic impact could be used as a tool to protect Earth from catastrophic asteroid impacts. Dimorphos is a small moon, roughly 150 meters in diameter, of a larger asteroid Didymous. Neither had ever been imaged before. The nature of the test required DART to autonomously navigate the last four hours of the mission autonomously and to impact the smaller asteroid at a velocity of over 14,000 miles per hour. Days before the impact, DART would eject a smaller spacecraft named LICIACube that would image the impact and collect valuable data regarding the ejecta. The test was a huge success.
Ed Reynolds was the project manager for the DART mission through its development and flight and impact. This presentation goes through the challenges of the DART mission and its development and its role in planetary defense. Ed will also discuss previous asteroid and comet missions and successes and failures along that journey and the lessons learned along the way.
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