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VOOZH | about |
As part of the worldβs first test of asteroid deflection, Hera will perform a detailed post-impact survey of the target asteroid, Dimorphos β the orbiting moonlet of a binary asteroid system known as Didymos.
Now that NASAβs DART mission has impacted the moonlet, Hera will turn the grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and repeatable planetary defence technique.
Demonstrating new technologies from autonomous navigation around an asteroid to low gravity proximity operations, Hera will be humankindβs first probe to rendezvous with a binary asteroid system and Europeβs flagship Planetary Defender.
Launch: 7 October 2024
Target: Asteroid Dimorphos
Rendezvous: November 2026