An illustration of the DART spacecraft heading toward an asteroid.
Apply to Join Our DART NASA Social
We’re attempting the world’s first mission to deflect an asteroid in space—and you’re invited! If your passion is sharing your love of space science and engaging the world via social media, then this is the event for you.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)—built and managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland—will demonstrate and test asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor. The spacecraft will deliberately collide with a target asteroid—which poses no threat to Earth—to change its speed and path. If successful, DART’s kinetic impact method could be used in the future if a hazardous asteroid on a collision course with Earth were ever discovered.

The NASA Social event will occur on Monday, Sept. 26, and will include a tour of facilities, interaction and Q&A with DART mission experts, and a special IMAX film screening.

NASA Social registration for the DART social opens on Aug. 10 and the deadline to apply is Aug. 15 at 9 a.m. EDT. All social applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
This Week at NASA
The full Moon hangs in the vibrant blue sky, above the Lorain Lighthouse. The sky and lake are the same shade of blue and blend into one another. The lighthouse is white with red roofs. It sits on a small piece of land that juts out into the water.
Moved by the Moon? – Does the Moon inspire you to think creatively or wonder about the mysteries of the universe? We want to see, hear, and experience all of your Moon-inspired content! Share your content with the hashtag include #NASAMoonSnap.
The Mars Curiosity rover rests on the rocky surface. The sky behind it is cloudy.
Curiosity's 10th Anniversary – Ten years ago today, a jetpack lowered NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover onto the Red Planet, beginning the SUV-size explorer’s pursuit of evidence that, billions of years ago, Mars had the conditions needed to support microscopic life.
Antarctic Ice Calving – New research on Antarctica, including the first map of iceberg calving, or breaking off, doubles the previous estimates of loss from ice shelves and details how the continent is changing.
Predicting Wildfires with Plant 'Sweat' – A new study uses data from the ECOSTRESS instrument aboard the space station to better understand why some parts of a wildfire burn more intensely than others.
New Opportunities for CubeSat Developers – NASA has announced a new round of opportunities through the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) for CubeSat developers, including educational institutions, to conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations in space.
Fermi Confirms Cosmic Particles' Source – Astronomers have long sought the launch sites for some of the highest-energy protons in our galaxy. Now a study using 12 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope confirms that one supernova remnant is just such a place.
People Profile
David Beaman stands on a green field. He wears a blue polo shirt with a NASA patch on it, as well as sunglasses. The SLS rocket and launch pad is visible in the distance.
Meet David Beaman, manager of the Space Launch System (SLS) Engineering & Integration Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Beaman and his team are always thinking multiple steps ahead, juggling a variety of pieces and countless potential interactions. “We’re responsible for overall requirements and processes for the entire SLS rocket -- how they’re implemented at every stage, from design to launch, and how they flow between the element level and the integrated launch vehicle, including the Orion crew vehicle, engineering ground systems and the rocket itself.”
Image Spotlight
A cluster of thousands of stars of varying sizes and temperatures glittering in blue, gold, and reddish tones. More stars are concentrated toward the middle where it's brighter.
This star-studded image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the heart of the globular cluster NGC 6638 in the constellation Sagittarius. The star-strewn observation highlights the density of stars at the heart of globular clusters, which are stable, tightly bound groups of tens of thousands to millions of stars. To capture the data in this image, Hubble used two of its cutting-edge astronomical instruments: Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. 

Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Cohen
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