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Intro music.

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Safely bringing two spacecraft together as they speed through the vast weightlessness of space isn't easy.

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It's a challenge the U.S. Space Program has met from the Gemini missions to the International Space Station.

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Until now, the technology always required human assistance from astronauts.

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The launch of the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology mission -- known as DART -- could change all that.

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The 24-hour DART mission is NASA's 
first test of unassisted rendezvous technology.

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DART ushers in a new era of U.S.technology that uses only computers and sensors to accomplish the rendezvous between spacecraft.

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The first rendezvous technology was tested in the Gemini program and served as a key element in the Apollo missions to the Moon.

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The Moon landings required undocking and docking the Lunar Module from the Command Service Module.

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Missions of Apollo Soyuz, the Space Shuttle and Mir, and the International Space Station

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brought with them new tests in overcoming the differences in hardware and language.

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DART’s hands-off technology paves the way for in-space assembly and servicing of space systems in the future.

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It will also help return astronauts and supplies to the lunar surface and beyond.