ESA space probe Hera to research asteroid defense
ESA will shortly be launching the Hera mission to investigate asteroid defense. The probe will investigate the effects of the DART impact on Dimorphos.
Artist's impression: Hera in front of the double asteroid Didymos and Dimorphos
(Image: ESA/Science Office)
The European Space Agency ESA is preparing for a groundbreaking mission to research asteroid defense. On October 7, 2024, the three-week launch window opens for the Hera space probe, which is to fly to the double asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos, as announced by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). The Hera mission is part of an international asteroid defense project by ESA, NASA and JAXA. Hera is intended to provide important data to deflect a dangerous celestial body away from Earth in the event of an emergency.
(Image: ESA-SJM Photography)
The probe, which was developed in Germany and built by Bremen-based space technology company OHB SE, follows on from NASA's DART mission, which successfully carried out a controlled impact at 22,500 km/h on Dimorphos in 2022 to change its orbit. Hera's task is now to investigate the effects of this impact in more detail. "With our Hera mission, we are expanding our knowledge of asteroids and making a major contribution towards an effective planetary defense of our Earth," explains Dr. Walther Pelzer, Director General of the German Space Agency at DLR.
Hera is equipped with twelve measuring instruments, including two cameras built by Jena-Optronik. It is planned that the probe will create a digital terrain model of the asteroids and investigate changes caused by the DART impact. Hera has two CubeSats – cube-shaped miniature satellites – called Juventas and Milani on board, which will be deployed and even land on Dimorphos at the end of the mission to analyze its surface and internal structure.
Threat from asteroid impacts
The impact of a large asteroid could have devastating consequences for mankind. 66 million years ago, an asteroid impact probably led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Even today, such a scenario cannot be ruled out.
On 15 February 2013, a shock wave caused by the explosion of a 20-meter asteroid over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk injured around 1,500 people and shattered countless windows. "Chelyabinsk was an event that can serve as a warning to us. To prevent dangerous events in the future, we need the data from the Hera mission," explains Dr. Manuel Metz, Hera project manager at the German Space Agency at DLR. "The consequences of the impact of a larger celestial body would be far more severe than the Chelyabinsk incident in 2013 and could threaten entire ocean coasts or continents," warns his colleague Dr. Stephan Ulamec.
According to Pelzer, humanity is preparing for future threats with such missions: "We now have the time to develop the technologies and capabilities to move an asteroid out of Earth's orbit if necessary."
Discovered in 2004, the asteroid Apophis will pass Earth in 2029 at a distance of just 31,750 km, which is closer than the geostationary orbits of satellites. With a diameter of 350 meters, an impact would be catastrophic, but is ruled out for the 21st century.
(vza)