Explained: What spacecraft is NASA using for its DART mission and how is it going to save the planet from Asteroids

The spacecraft being used in the DART mission by NASA is a basic satellite with very sparse equipment which consists of one single colour camera, an ion engine and a few basic solar panels. The entire operation focuses on whether or not DART, a new system of using spacecraft to alter the course of an asteroid works as engineers and scientists at NASA hope. Once the DART spacecraft is close enough to Dimorphos, the SMART Nav will track the larger Didymos and use that for navigation until about 50 minutes before its collision with Dimorphos. If the mission is successful, NASA hopes to launch several more of these DART spacecrafts and modules towards sizeable asteroids that we know are coming towards the Earth, especially if we know for sure that there will be a collision.