Planetary Defense: Countdown to the Hera Mission Launch

“Planetary defense mission”. This is the name given to the different missions responsible for understanding how the Earth can be protected from a collision with an asteroid. The goal is to anticipate any significant impact, likely to cause thousands or even millions of deaths. Or even exterminate our civilization as was the case during the era of the dinosaurs several tens of millions of years ago.

Two years ago, NASA launched the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission to test kinetic impact with the aim of deflecting asteroids. NASA had thus targeted Dimorphos, moon of Didymos. In a few days, Hera will take over, and it will be the first mission of ESA, the European space agency.

One mission, three probes

This Thursday, the Hera spacecraft, along with two CubeSats, are expected to be encapsulated inside the fairings of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before a launch scheduled for Monday, October 7. This moment will mark the start of a roughly two-year journey to the binary asteroid system Didymos and its satellite, Dimorphos.

Why target the same celestial body? The Hera mission first aims to study the impacts left by DART during its collision with Dimorphos in 2022. It should be remembered that the impact shortened its initial orbit of 11 hours and 55 minutes around Didymos by 33 minutes. . The Hera mission's trio of probes will arrive at their destination in late 2026 to begin a six-month mission, during which it will observe the crater left by DART and collect other data. Clearly, Hera's goal is not to hit and divert the asteroid, but to understand the damage caused by DART.

Falcon 9 preferred to Ariane 6

Alongside the Hera probe, we find two small satellites, each measuring around 10 cm on a side, with very footballing names: Juventas and Milani. The first is “devoted to the geophysical characterization of Dimorphos”, according to the ESA, and the second is “devoted to the visual inspection and detection of dust from the asteroid Didymos after the DART impact”.

Initially, these payloads were to take place in Ariane 6, but the numerous delays in the commissioning of the rocket pushed the ESA to turn to SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket. “We are going to use practically every drop of fuel that “They have on board because we're going to be heading into a very energetic orbit,” said Ian Carnelli, the project manager of the Hera mission. “This will be the fastest ESA spacecraft ever launched and that is why we need a large amount of fuel on board. »

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