A spacecraft was launched on October 7, 2024, marking a crucial development in planetary defense. The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft began a two-year mission to the asteroid Dimorphos, which was deliberately impacted by NASA’s Dart mission two years earlier. The primary goal of this mission is to assess the effectiveness of the collision as a potential method to deflect asteroids that could threaten Earth. Hera will collect essential data to improve future strategies for diverting such celestial bodies. The spacecraft was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket and successfully separated from its upper stage approximately one hour after liftoff, an achievement celebrated by the mission control team in Germany.

Hera is expected to reach the asteroid system in 2026, having received a gravity assist from Mars. Upon arrival, Hera will orbit Dimorphos and conduct a thorough investigation using 12 sophisticated scientific instruments. Researchers aim to examine the physical changes caused by the 2022 impact, specifically whether the collision created a crater or altered the asteroid’s structure significantly. The debris cloud resulting from the initial impact, which extended thousands of miles into space, poses a potential risk to the spacecraft as it approaches. Alongside Hera’s observations, two CubeSats will conduct even closer inspections, facilitating a comprehensive study. Through this mission, scientists hope to gain invaluable insights into Dimorphos’ composition and origins, strengthening Earth’s planetary defense measures in the future.