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Safely bringing two spacecraft together as they speed through the vast weightlessness of space isn't easy. It's a challenge the U.S. Space Program has met from the Gemini missions to the International Space Station. Until now, the technology always required human assistance from astronauts. The launch of the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology mission -- known as DART -- could change all that. The 24-hour DART mission is NASA's first test of unassisted rendezvous technology. DART ushers in a new era of U.S. technology that uses only computers and sensors to accomplish the rendezvous between spacecraft. The first rendezvous technology was tested in the Gemini program and served as a key element in the Apollo missions to the Moon. The Moon landings required undocking and docking the Lunar Module from the Command Service Module. Missions of Apollo Soyuz, the Space Shuttle and Mir, and the International Space Station brought with them new tests in overcoming the differences in hardware and language. DART’s hands-off technology paves the way for in-space assembly and servicing of space systems in the future. It will also help return astronauts and supplies to the lunar surface and beyond.

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