00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:04 The team is standing just recognizing this moment years in the making.
00:09 It is really nice to see them relax a little bit, get off from those computers
00:13 that they've been glued to and just appreciate this moment that's coming.
00:17 >> Yeah, and they've earned this.
00:19 It's just great to see them there.
00:22 This is so cool.
00:24 >> Lori, we hit another major milestone.
00:26 We are now two minutes and a half from impact and SmartNav has stopped
00:30 maneuvering the spacecraft.
00:32 DART is now coasting toward Dimorphos and we hope into the history books.
00:38 >> Absolutely, this will be, I'm sure you've heard it many times tonight,
00:42 humanity's first ever, ever attempt at trying to move another celestial body.
00:48 And also our first attempt ever to execute a mission,
00:52 sole purpose of planetary defense, so what an exciting, exciting time.
00:58 Yeah, and I'm starting to see Dimorphos start to come into view there.
01:01 You can see it's starting to take shape.
01:03 I'm starting to see individual boulders on Didymos.
01:06 Unbelievable, unbelievable clarity of images there.
01:10 >> We're coasting on in, our projected missed distance is gonna be about 17
01:14 meters.
01:14 >> All right.
01:15 >> [APPLAUSE]
01:22 >> All eyes on this event, space telescopes,
01:25 ground telescopes from every continent on Earth.
01:28 >> Yeah.
01:29 >> Yeah.
01:30 >> [LAUGH] All right, two minutes out.
01:34 Does not look like one single rock to me.
01:37 >> Boy, we're getting close.
01:38 >> 14,000 miles per hour, Lori.
01:42 >> 14,000 miles per hour, and remember, 45 minutes ago,
01:48 55 minutes ago, we couldn't even resolve this object in space.
01:52 And now we are, you can see us, zeroing in right on target.
01:57 >> And we're now dropping the clock and we'll go by loss of signal to confirm impact.
02:02 >> Right, yes.
02:05 Imagine we'll get that loss of signal and
02:06 then we'll hear from Lena Adams again, letting us know that we've been successful.
02:12 >> I feel like we'll know, I feel like that'll be a crystal clear signal.
02:16 >> [LAUGH] I think so.
02:19 I think we're starting to see more resolution.
02:23 In fact, look at that, Didymos has even come out of the view.
02:26 We're now just seeing dimorphous.
02:28 >> This is remarkable stuff.
02:33 >> My goodness, look at that.
02:35 >> Looks like control system settling down, angular rates look really good.
02:39 I think we're gonna get the investigation team some good pictures.
02:42 >> Wow.
02:46 >> No, no, come on, we can do better than that.
02:49 [LAUGH]
02:50 >> Starting to see those individual boulders there.
02:53 You can see shadows of the various rocks on the surface.
02:56 >> It's amazing guys.
03:00 My goodness, look at that.
03:03 Unbelievable.
03:04 >> Yeah.
03:04 Looks to me like we're headed straight in.
03:09 >> My gosh.
03:19 >> Wow.
03:19 >> Yeah.
03:20 >> My goodness.
03:22 >> Yeah.
03:23 >> Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
03:30 >> My gosh.
03:33 >> Wow.
03:35 >> Awaiting visual confirmation.
03:37 >> All right.
03:42 >> We got it?
03:44 >> Waiting.
03:45 >> Waiting.
03:46 >> And we have impact.
03:49 >> And we did it.
03:50 >> A giant leap for humanity in the name of planetary defense.
03:54 >> Fantastic.
03:57 Fantastic.
03:59 >> What a moment.
04:05 Very few words can really capture this moment.
04:07 This is beautiful to watch.
04:09 >> Amazing.
04:19 >> Amazing.
04:20 >> What a team.
04:21 What a team and what an accomplishment.
04:22 >> Team.
04:23 A few weeks ago they had their last dress rehearsal.
04:26 They were getting emotional at the dress rehearsal.
04:28 They're like, this is crazy.
04:30 We're getting emotional.
04:31 This is not the real thing.
04:32 I can't even imagine what they are feeling right now.
04:35 >> Yes.
04:38 Well, you can see them there on screen.
04:40 They're all pretty excited.
04:42 Wow.
04:45 >> Hearing impact, the curtains close on Draco feed.
04:49 That raw joy from the team, years of hard work and the weight of expectation lifted off their shoulders.
04:55 This is amazing.
04:59 >> Congratulations.
05:02 Congratulations.
05:03 Congratulations.
05:07 >> This is beautiful.
05:08 And, Lori, really, this is a huge moment for the mission.
05:12 Lots more work needs to happen in the days and weeks and months.
05:16 >> Absolutely.
05:17 Now, as I always say, it's one of my favorite missions, now is when the science starts.
05:21 It just starts now.
05:23 Now that we've impacted, now we're going to see for real how effective we were.
05:29 We're going to train all of those ground-based telescopes on the Didymos dimorphos system.
05:35 And we're going to make measurements that will help us determine just how -- what its orbit looks like now relative to what it was before.
05:44 So it's going to be great.
05:46 Very cool.
05:48 >> This is when science, engineering, and a great purpose, planetary defense, come together, and, you know, it makes a magical moment like this.
05:58 >> Yeah.
05:59 Absolutely.
06:00 And you can see so many people there that have made this happen.
06:04 The team of APL engineers that have really poured their souls into this mission.
06:12 >> Lori, any last words to mark this historic moment?
06:17 >> We're embarking on a new era of humankind, an era in which we potentially have the capability to protect ourself from something like a dangerous, hazardous asteroid impact.
06:33 What an amazing thing.
06:34 We've never had that capability before.
06:36 >> Thank you so much, Lori.
06:37 Those are poignant last words.
06:39 Tahira, history has been made.
06:42 Back to you.
06:46 >> Wow.
06:47 I mean, what an exciting day for the DART team.
06:51 And in case you're keeping score, humanity, one, asteroids, zero.
06:57 Now, I'm here with Nancy Chabot, DART coordination lead.
07:00 Nancy, talk about a moment to catch on camera.
07:04 What is going through your head right now?
07:06 >> I mean, I'm just thinking, wow, that was amazing, wasn't it?
07:10 I mean, those images.
07:11 You just got closer and closer.
07:12 And sort of we've been planning for this moment.
07:14 We've been talking about it for years.
07:16 At APL here we've been working on this since 2015.
07:19 And I knew -- I've been talking, this is the images that we're going to see and they're going to be spectacular.
07:24 And I think even then they exceeded my expectations of just zooming in like that.
07:28 And, you know, it really is just such the team accomplishment and to get to this moment over so many years.
07:34 And I don't have to talk about it as coming anymore.
07:37 It's happened now.
07:38 We have done this.
07:39 It's happened and it is just incredible that as humans, like we have done this.
07:44 We did this.
07:45 And, Nancy, do you have anything you'd like to say to the teams who made tonight possible?
07:50 >> Oh, I mean, I don't need to say anything to the teams because I know everybody like me is really proud to be part of this, right?
07:56 Proud of this thing that we've been working on for years.
07:59 And even before 2015, internationally, people wanted to do this.
08:03 People wanted to take this first test.
08:05 And then we finally did.
08:06 Partners across the United States.
08:08 We have actually 28 countries represented on our investigation team of scientists, telescopes on all seven continents.
08:14 Everybody doing their part to make this moment happen.
08:18 I know I'm really honored to be on this team and I know other people on the team feel the same way.
08:24 >> As you should, Nancy.
08:25 And, I mean, there's a lot to celebrate here tonight.
08:28 And so now that we have confirmed impact, can you let us know what's next for this mission?
08:35 >> Well, I mean, I think I'm still taking a moment here.
08:38 >> Yeah, soak it in.
08:39 >> Because this is a big deal.
08:41 And this was a really hard technology demonstration to hit a small asteroid we've never seen before and do it in such spectacular fashion.
08:50 But I know other scientists on the team like me are already pointing at those images being like, did you see that boulder?
08:56 Did you see that smooth area?
08:57 Did you see the shape?
08:58 What does that mean?
08:59 And Lichy Cube is like flying by right about now, their close approach, like taking images and they're storing them and we'll get those in the next days.
09:07 Telescopes here and in space are looking, they're looking at the brightening of the rock that's thrown off from that spectacular collision that we saw.
09:14 And this is going to go on for weeks.
09:16 And so there's still a lot of excitement to come, but nothing to take away from this moment.
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