DART Research Published in Nature with Coauthor Frank Laipert

On March 1, 2023 the journal Nature published an article covering the DART impact mission online.

This paper details the successful planetary defense test mission, the autonomous on-board optical navigation system, and the methods the team used to map the surface of Dimorphos, the asteroid targeted and impacted by the mission.

Frank Laipert of Nabla Zero Labs is one of the paper’s coauthors, a well-deserved recognition of his accomplishments at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and role in the DART mission before joining Nabla Zero Labs.

“I just feel lucky to have been part of the whole thing,” Frank says. “Obviously being part of a big team like that isn’t the same as being published as a first author, but it’s just cool to see my name in such a high-profile journal. It kind of feels like briefly showing up on TV in the news or something. It’s not the same as showing up as an actor, but it’s still fun to say that it happened.”

Congratulations to Frank and the rest of the team behind the mission and this paper!