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ESA\u2019s Hera mission seen with its CubeSats in orbit around its target asteroid. Following\u00a0NASA\u2019s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, DART, which impacted the Dimorphos moonlet in 2022 to change its orbit around its parent asteroid Didymos, ESA\u2019s Hera will be Earth\u2019s next planetary defence mission, scheduled to launch in October 2024.<\/p>\n
The DART impact was successful, based on astronomical observations multiple unknowns, such as the precise mass of Dimorphos, its makeup and its internal structure \u2013 as well as the size and shape of the crater left by DART. So when Hera reaches the binary asteroid system in late 2026, it will commence its own detailed \u2018crime scene investigation\u2019 of the impact site.<\/p>\n
By gathering data close-up, Hera will help turn DART\u2019s grand scale impact experiment into a well-understood and repeatable deflection technique \u2013 ready to be deployed if an asteroid should ever be spotted heading Earthward.<\/p>\n
The main Hera spacecraft will also deploy a pair of shoebox sized CubeSats to perform supporting observations:\u00a0Milani<\/i>\u00a0will make spectral surface observations, while\u00a0Juventas<\/i>\u00a0will undertake the first-ever radar soundings within an asteroid.<\/p>\n
The Hera spacecraft is being built by\u00a0OHB\u00a0in Germany while other mission elements take shape across Europe. For instance, the engineering model of Hera\u2019s precision guidance, navigation and control system \u2013 essential to guide the desk-sized spacecraft to and around its twin-asteroid destination \u2013 is being put together by\u00a0GMV\u00a0in Spain, while the\u00a0Juventas radar prototype is currently undergoing testing\u00a0at ESA\u2019s\u00a0ESTEC\u00a0technical centre in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n