Automated Rendezvous Technologies: the DART Mission

In the pioneering years of space flight the ability of two orbiting spacecraft to rendezvous was fundamental to the completion of complex exercises like missions to the moon and the resupply of orbiting space stations. With the phase out of the shuttle this new technology has been necessary but it has left the United States without the ability to make complex rendezvous automatically. In an attempt to develop this automatic capability NASA built DART to Demonstrate Automated Rendezvous Technologies.