Planetary Defence

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence has resolved its two target asteroids separately for the very first time, revealing the binary nature of the Didymos system, currently some 197 million km away from Earth.

Meet Hera, our very own asteroid detective. Together with two CubeSats – Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary – Hera is off on an adventure to explore Didymos, a double asteroid system that is typical of the thousands that pose an impact risk to planet Earth. After their two year cosmic roadtrip, Hera and its little CubeSat companions have finally arrived at Didymos and Dimorphos – the very first Solar System object to have had its orbit shifted by human action. Suitable for kids and adults alike, this episode of ‘The Incredible Adventures of the Hera mission’ explains what ESA’s asteroid detective and its CubeSat assistants will be up to once they arrive, and precisely how they are going to say goodbye to each other – letting the CubeSats begin their close-up exam of this historic space rock.

The European Space Agency’s and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Ramses planetary defence spacecraft has been turned on for the first time by its prime contractor – marking a major milestone in its time-critical development schedule.

Currently speeding through deep space at 12 km/s relative to Earth, ESA’s Hera spacecraft is due to reach its target Dimorphos asteroid this November. But if an astronaut were magically teleported onto the small-car-sized Hera upon arrival, what would they be seeing, and what would it feel like to walk on the asteroid’s surface?

Hera mission poster

Flyeye poster

Ramses mission poster

ESA spots asteroid that made very close approach to Earth