Space Mission Operations
DART Final Transmission
The spacecraft transmitted a partial final frame before its planned collision destroyed the camera and ended the signal.
The knowledge that remained
Knowledge preserved by the event.
- 01
The final partial field is missing transmission data, not an external explosion view.
- 02
A kinetic impactor transfers momentum by intentionally colliding with its target.
- 03
The camera's final images provide a spacecraft-side record up to the moment communication ends.
DART became the first demonstration of asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor and preserved the collision approach through its own final transmissions.
Timeline
The engineering sequence.
- 01ConditionsSEP 26, 2022
DART approaches Dimorphos
The DRACO camera transmits images as the asteroid moonlet grows rapidly in frame.
- 02ActionFINAL APPROACH
Surface detail fills the image
Boulders and terrain resolve as the spacecraft continues on its intentional collision course.
- 03MechanismPARTIAL IMAGE
The last frame arrives incomplete
Only part of the final transmission reaches Earth before the camera is destroyed.
- 04ResultIMPACT
The signal ends by design
DART collides with Dimorphos to transfer momentum as the kinetic-impact demonstration requires.
The event.
NASA's official replay shows the final five-and-a-half minutes of DRACO imagery before DART's intentional collision with Dimorphos on 26 September 2022.
The partial image and sudden silence are authentic mission evidence. No simulated explosion, reconstruction, or replacement impact footage is part of the record.
The mechanism.
DART spent the spacecraft to transfer momentum; the partial final transmission ended when collision destroyed the camera.
DART was a kinetic impactor designed to transfer momentum into the asteroid moonlet. The final incomplete field is a partial transmission—not flame, a flash, or an external view of impact.
Sources & references
Trace the evidence.
Media rights record: Official NASA/Johns Hopkins APL imagery with required credit. The source contains no audio. Simulated impact, reconstruction, and explosion footage are excluded.
Discovery edition
The case in under one minute.
The Short introduces the event. This archive record preserves the mechanism, evidence, and engineering lesson beyond the video.
Final editorial reviewEditorial derivatives
Editions from this case.
A portable, source-backed edition of the complete case.
The failure sequence formatted for print and classroom display.
Mechanism, consequence, and lesson in one visual system.
Discussion prompts, activities, and a structured answer guide.
The question to remember
Was DART's incomplete final image a camera failure?
No. The spacecraft was designed to collide with Dimorphos. It transmitted what it could until impact destroyed the camera, leaving a partial last frame and then silence.
