The spacecraft, named Hera, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to study the asteroid Dimorphos, which NASA has deliberately redirected to 2022. The launch took place at 10:52 local time (15:52 BST) on Monday, marking a significant step in international efforts to investigate how we can prevent potential asteroid threats to Earth. The Hera mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), aims to collect vital data on Dimorphos, located approximately seven million miles away, with an expected arrival in December 2026.
Understanding Asteroid Redirection
Dimorphos is a small moon with a diameter of 160 meters that orbits the larger asteroid Didymos. NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission successfully changed the trajectory of Dimorphos in a groundbreaking test. According to NASA scientists, the collision with the spacecraft shifted the course of the asteroid by several meters. Although Dimorphos was not on a collision course with Earth, the experiment showed that redirecting asteroids is feasible, providing critical insights into how we might tackle real threats in the future.
Hera mission objectives
After reaching Dimorphos, the Hera spacecraft will perform an in-depth survey of the impact crater created by the DART collision. In addition, it will deploy two cube-shaped probes designed to analyze the composition and mass of asteroids. dr. Naomi Murdoch, a scientist at the European Space Agency, stressed the importance of understanding the physical properties of asteroids, such as their composition, to improve future deflection strategies.
The importance of asteroid research
Although there is currently no significant threat from a massive asteroid impact similar to the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, smaller asteroids can collide with Earth. A notable incident occurred in 2013, when a house-sized asteroid exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring more than 1,600 people. This highlights the need for continued research into asteroid detection and redirection methods.