SpaceX has launched the Hera mission on the back of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on October 7.
The Hera mission is the European Space Agency's first planetary defense spacecraft that is on route to the crash site of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) that proved a kinetic impactor, or high-speed spacecraft, can generate enough energy to alter the orbit of an asteroid. The success of the DART mission unlocked Earth's first planetary defense weapon against asteroids, and now the ESA is sending a spacecraft to go inspect the crash site in hopes of gathering more data to unravel some of the remaining mysteries surrounding the event.
Hera will be conducting deep-space technology experiments such as the deployment of two twin shoebox-sized "CubeSats" which will be tasked with flying closer to the asteroid and hovering in ultra-low gravity before eventually landing on the asteroid's surface. One of the CubeSats will be attempting "self-driving" navigation around the asteroids based on its visual input.
"ESA's first planetary defence spacecraft has departed planet Earth. The Hera mission is headed to a unique target among the more than 1.3 million known asteroids in our Solar System - the only body to have had its orbit shifted by human action - to solve lingering mysteries associated with its deflection. By sharpening scientific understanding of the 'kinetic impact' technique of asteroid deflection, Hera aims to make Earth safer. The mission is part of a broader ambition to turn terrestrial asteroid impacts into a fully avoidable class of natural disaster," writes the ESA
"Hera is finally on its way to Didymos; today we are writing a new page of space history," said Hera mission manager Ian Carnelli. "This deep space mission took shape from contract signing to launch in only four years, a testimony to the hard work and dedication of the Hera team across ESA, European industry, science, and the Japanese space agency JAXA".