The starting point for any exploration-focused space mission is the formulation of questions to be asked. The spacecraft that sets forth from Earth is how those questions get to be answered, and the people who set them – and will oversee their solving – are the scientists associated with the mission.
In the case of Hera, ESA’s first planetary defence spacecraft, its science team is notably wide and international in character, indicating the broad interest taken in this mission, inherited in turn from NASA’s DART mission before it, which impacted Hera’s target Dimorphos asteroid in September 2022.
ESA’s Hera project scientist Michael Kueppers therefore liaises not only with Principal Investigator Patrick Michel of France’s CNRS Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur but they preside over an entire Hera Science Management Board, presiding in turn over various working groups focused on different scientific aspects of the mission as well as the leads of the individual instruments.
Accordingly Hera’s Science Team encompasses France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, UK, Czech Republic, Greece, Switzerland and Finland, extending in turn to Japan – contributing Hera’s Thermal Infrared Imager – and the US – with 12 scientists being supported through NASA’s Hera Participating Scientist Program.
Hera Science Management Board (SMB)
ESA Hera Project Scientist + Mission PI + Science Advisors:
Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons, Queen's University Belfast, United Kingdom
Prof. Simon Green, Open University, United Kingdom
Pr. Monica Lazzarin, University of Padova, Italy
Dr. Stephan Ulamec, DLR, Germany
Pr. Paul Abell, NASA, USA
Pr. Seiji Sugita, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Honorary Mission Advisor: Sir Dr. Brian May, UK
Impact Working Group Chairs:
Dr. Martin Jutzi, University of Bern, Switzerland
Dr. Sabina Raducan, University of Bern, Switzerland
Dr. Kai Wünnemann, Berlin Museum für Naturkunde, Germany
Ground Based Observations Working Group Chairs:
Dr. Benoît Carry, CNRS Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Lagrange Lab, Université Côte d’Azur, France
Dr. Julia de Leon, lnstituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain
Dr. Petr Pravec, Ondřejov Observatory, Czech Republic
Dr. Colin Snodgrass, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Dynamics and Physical Properties Working Group Chairs:
Pr. Adriano Campo Bagatin, University Alicante, Spain
Pr. Sébastien Charnoz, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France
Dr. Kleomenis Tsiganis, University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Data Analysis and Interpretation Working Group Chairs:
Dr. Alain Hérique, University of Grenoble-Alpes, IPAG, France: WG5 co-chair
Dr. Ozgur Karaketin, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Belgium
Dr. Naomi Murdoch, lSAE-Supaero, France
Prof. Paolo Tortora, University of Bologna, ltaly
Dr. Jean-Baptiste Vincent, DLR, Germany
Instrument leads:
Asteroid Framing Cameras (AFC): Jean-Baptiste Vincent, DLR, Germany
Thermal Infrared Imager (TIRI): Tatsu Okada, JAXA, Japan
Hyperspectral Imager (Hyperscout-H): Julia de Leon, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain
Low-Frequency Radar (JuRA): Alain Hérique, University of Grenoble-Alpes, IPAG, France
Gravimeter (GRASS): Ozgur Karatekin, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Belgium
Near-InfraRed Imager (ASPECT): Tomas Kohout, University of Helsinki, Finland
Dust detector and analyzer (VISTA): Ernesto Palomba, INAF, Rome, Italy
Milani Cubesat Camera: Fabio Ferrari, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Radio Science: Paolo Tortora, University of Bologna, Italy
For detailed information on the Hera Science Team, visit https://www.heramission.space/
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