ESA's asteroid probe Hera completes largest maneuver on its way to Didymos
Hera is to investigate at Didymos and its companion Dimorphos what consequences the impact of the Dart probe had. Now the ESA probe has finally set its course.
(Image: ESA)
The European space probe Hera has changed its course with a series of maneuvers and is now on course for the double asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos, the first celestial bodies whose orbit humanity has deliberately altered. This was announced by the European Space Agency ESA, which explained that the course correction was the second and largest of the entire mission in terms of fuel consumed. With a total of three large and one smaller thrust, 123 kg of hydrazine were consumed, and the probe's speed was changed by 367 m/s, which corresponds to the acceleration of an unmoving object to supersonic speed. The probe is expected to reach the two asteroids in November.
Poster for the Hera mission
(Image:Â ESA)
Close-up analysis
Hera was launched in autumn 2024 and has been on its way to its asteroids ever since. It is intended to investigate on-site what consequences the impact of NASA's Dart probe had on Dimorphos. Because the probe itself was destroyed in the process, the asteroid moon and its asteroid could only be studied from a distance afterward. Nevertheless, we already know that the probe's targeted impact not only changed the orbit of the two celestial bodies around each other but also their solar orbit. Hera is now intended to provide significantly deeper insights into the consequences of the experiment and to research the asteroids intensively for this purpose.
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Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) crashed into the asteroid moon Dimorphos on September 27, 2022, at 01:14 CEST into the asteroid moon Dimorphos. The experiment was intended to test whether such a targeted change in trajectory is suitable as a method for deflecting potentially dangerous asteroids from a collision course with Earth. Hera is scheduled to begin a series of engine burns in October to enter an orbit around the asteroids. For this, it must actively search for the celestial bodies because they are much smaller and darker than the usual targets for space probes. The arrival will take about three weeks in total. New software has already been sent to the probe for this change in activities, so that it will then also navigate safely around the two asteroids.
(mho)
