Author
Matthew Bray
DART's High Gain Antenna (HGA) Designer and Lead Engineer
JHUAPL
Recent News
NASA's DART Data Validates Kinetic Impact as Planetary Defense Method
03/01/2023 \ DART Press Release
Scientists Following a Dusty Tail to Shape the Story of DART’s Impact
12/15/2022 \ NASA Press Release
11/30/2022 \ DART Press Release
NASA Confirms DART Mission Impact Changed Asteroid’s Motion in Space
10/11/2022 \ DART Press Release
Webb, Hubble Capture Detailed Views of DART Impact
09/29/2022 \ NASA
Bullseye! NASA’s DART Mission Impacts Asteroid Target in World First
09/26/2022 \ DART Press Release
DART’s Small Satellite Companion Tests Camera Prior to Dimorphos Impact
09/24/2022 \ DART Press Release
NASA Invites Media to Witness World’s First Planetary Defense Test
09/22/2022 \ NASA
DART Tests Autonomous Navigation System Using Jupiter and Europa
09/20/2022 \ DART Press Release
DART’s Small Satellite Companion Takes Flight Ahead of Impact
09/15/2022 \ DART Press Release
DART Sets Sights on Asteroid Target
09/07/2022 \ DART Press Release
DART Team Confirms Orbit of Target Asteroid
08/26/2022 \ DART Press Release
NASA's DART Captures One of Night Sky's Brightest Stars
06/17/2022 \ DART Press Release
Johns Hopkins APL Named One of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Space Companies
03/08/2022 \ DART Press Release
With Its Single 'Eye,' NASA's DART Returns First Images From Space
12/22/2021 \ DART Press Release
NASA’s DART Spacecraft Launches in World’s First Planetary Defense Test Mission
11/24/2021 \ DART Press Release
APL DART Team Prepares for Launch of NASA’s First Planetary Defense Test Mission
11/04/2021 \ DART Press Release
DART Arrives at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Its Final Stop Before Launch
10/20/2021 \ DART Press Release
DART Gets Its CubeSat Companion, Its Last Major Piece
10/01/2021 \ DART Press Release
Smarter Navigation on NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test
09/27/2021 \ DART Press Release
DART Gets Its Wings: Spacecraft Integrated with Innovative Solar Array Technology and Camera
08/13/2021 \ DART Press Release
SMART Nav: Giving Spacecraft the Power to Guide Themselves
07/14/2021 \ DART Press Release
Behind the Scenes: Testing for Electromagnetic Interference on DART (ft. Ken Watson)
05/10/2021 \ DART Blog
NASA Selects Four Scientists to Join the DART Planetary Defense Mission
04/15/2021 \ NASA.gov
Behind the Scenes: Outfitting the DART Spacecraft with Thermal Blankets, ft. Elisabeth Abel
03/31/2021 \ DART Blog
NASA's First Planetary Defense Test Mission
03/02/2021 \ DART Blog
Behind the Scenes: DART High Gain Antenna
03/01/2021 \ DART Blog
DART Launch Moves to Secondary Window
02/17/2021 \ NASA.gov
DART Mission Heats Up, Enters Environmental Testing
02/09/2021 \ DART Press Release
Behind the Scenes: NEXT-C Ion Engine Installation on DART
02/02/2021 \ DART Blog
DART Team Takes a Last Look at Asteroid Target Before Launch
01/15/2021 \ DART Press Release
DART Spacecraft Outfitted with Next-Gen Technology Demonstration Propulsion System
11/24/2020 \ DART Press Release
Behind the Scenes: Assembling the DART Spacecraft (feat. Mechanical Systems Engineer Betsy Congdon)
11/17/2020 \ DART Blog
How to Build a Spacecraft to Save the World
10/15/2020 \ WIRED
This spacecraft is being readied for a one-way mission to deflect an asteroid
10/12/2020 \ MIT Technology Review
Predicting the Unpredictable - The Dynamics of DART's Dive Into an Asteroid
07/23/2020 \ DART Mission Website
Staying Aligned During COVID-19: APL Propels Space Missions Forward
07/02/2020 \ DART Mission Website
NASA's First Planetary Defense Mission Target Gets a New Name
06/23/2020 \ DART Mission Website
NASA planetary defense efforts continue during pandemic
06/09/2020 \ SpaceNews
Johns Hopkins APL Receives DART Spacecraft Structure and Ramps Up Integration and Testing
05/19/2020 \ DART Mission Website
Why NASA plans to slam a spacecraft into an asteroid
04/28/2020 \ National Geographic
NASA’s First Planetary Defense Mission Readies for Integration and Testing at APL
04/13/2020 \ DART Mission Website
NASA’s Plan to Stop an Asteroid Headed for Earth
02/04/2020 \ Freethink
01/30/2020 \ DART Blog
DART Receives First Flight Guidance and Control Sensor
12/16/2019 \ DART Blog
DART Project Successfully Completes Critical Milestone
11/06/2019 \ DART Mission Website
We’re going to slam a spacecraft into an asteroid to try to deflect it
09/17/2019 \ MIT Technology Review
A Launch Four Centuries in the Making
09/03/2019 \ DART Blog
What's in the Box? DART Team Unpacks a Spacecraft
07/19/2019 \ DART Press Release
06/30/2019 \ DART Blog
Scientists turn up the spotlight on space perils (and prospects) for Asteroid Day
06/27/2019 \ GeekWire
NBC News: Inside scientists’ new plan to deflect asteroids away from Earth
06/02/2019 \ NBC News
NASA’s First Planetary Defense Technology Demonstration to Collide with Asteroid in 2022
05/06/2019 \ DART Press Release
What if a killer asteroid were headed toward Earth? NASA plans to find out this week
04/29/2019 \ NBC News
Observing Didymos in 2019: Using Telescopes to Understand Our Target
04/29/2019 \ DART Blog
DART Mission Set to Launch on SpaceX Falcon 9
04/12/2019 \ DART Press Release
Smart Teams + Smart Algorithms = SMART Nav
02/25/2019 \ DART Blog
ESA plans mission to smallest asteroid ever visited
02/04/2019 \ European Space Agency
02/04/2019 \ The Baltimore Sun
Humanity Will Slam a Spacecraft into an Asteroid in a Few Years to Help Save Us All
01/02/2019 \ Space.com
What Could be More Exciting Than Crashing a Spacecraft Into an Asteroid?
11/19/2018 \ DART Blog
10/09/2018 \ Baltimore Magazine
Asteroids have been hitting the Earth for billions of years. In 2022, we hit back.
09/27/2018 \ DART Blog
APL-Led Asteroid-Deflection Mission Passes Key Development Milestone
08/30/2018 \ DART Press Release
White House releases near Earth object action plan
06/21/2018 \ SpaceNews
Space scientists have big plans to avert an asteroid apocalypse
04/06/2018 \ NBC News
Course Corrector: Managers of proposed mission hope to protect Earth from giant space rocks
10/01/2017 \ Aerospace America
NASA Pushes Through with Asteroid Deflection Mission That Could One Day Save Earth
07/05/2017 \ Inquisitr
NASA Spacecraft Would Smash Into an Asteroid as a Dry Run for Saving the Planet
07/03/2017 \ Popular Mechanics
NASA unveils plan to test asteroid defense technique
07/01/2017 \ CNN
NASA'S First Asteroid Deflection Mission Enters Next Design Phase at Johns Hopkins APL
06/30/2017 \ DART Press Release
Earth’s Best Defense Against Killer Asteroids Needs Cash
02/09/2017 \ WIRED
11/24/2016 \ Euronews
We really need to figure out how to stop a killer asteroid, scientists say
11/18/2016 \ The Washington Post
Space Scientists Rally Support for 2020 Asteroid-Deflection Mission
11/15/2016 \ Space.com
European Asteroid Mission Could Launch Soon, Target Space Rock Moves Near Earth
11/08/2016 \ Nature World News
News & Resources
Building a spacecraft requires the coordinated efforts of various teams and individuals who all play an important role in getting a mission off the ground. As NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) undergoes integration and testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, hear from various team members with diverse roles on the first ever planetary defense test mission.
Matthew Bray is the designer and lead engineer for the DART High Gain Antenna (HGA), following the antenna from concept to prototype, flight fabrication, and testing. The DART HGA is a wideband Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) that forms a narrow beam, allowing high throughput images to be downloaded from DART's DRACO instrument as the spacecraft approaches the Didymos asteroid system. Watch Matthew and his team install the HGA onto the DART spacecraft.