The DART mission, launched as a demonstration of autonomous rendezvous technology, aimed to rendezvous with the MUBLCOM satellite but suffered from unforeseen navigation software issues. These technical problems caused the spacecraft to use fuel at a higher rate than expected, ultimately leading to a slow collision with its target. The mission's cost significantly exceeded initial estimates, rising to $110 million. Despite its failure to fulfill the original objective, lessons learned from DART contribute to future space exploration initiatives.
The DART mission, intended for a brief rendezvous, faced unexpected fuel depletion due to persistent software issues, leading to an unintended collision with a satellite.
Initially, DART was on course; however, software navigation errors caused rapid fuel consumption, leaving controllers unable to correct the trajectory.
Collection
[
|
...
]