The launch of the Hera mission, to study asteroids, is imminent

It was one of the most important space missions of the year 2024 and its departure is imminent: the Hera mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), will finally be launched, this Monday, October 7, 2024 . His objective? Study the asteroid Dimorphos, deliberately struck by NASA in 2022.

Objective: confirm data from the DART mission

Two years earlier, NASA had launched the DART probe, an American orbiter sent at high speed, in order to divert the asteroid Dimorphos from its initial course. After ten months of travel, the challenge had been met with flying colors, since the celestial body, located 11 million kilometers from Earth, had indeed changed its trajectory.

The Hera mission will take over this project, with the intention of confirming, on site, the results already transmitted by DART. The objective will be to study in detail the consequences of the collision, with debris potentially directed towards Mars, as well as the precise characteristics of Dimorphos. The crater formed by the DART probe will be scrutinized in particular.

This information could then play a crucial role for future diversion missions, but especially in protecting the Earth from asteroids. The ultimate goal is to better understand how the 35,000 asteroids close to our planet are formed, and what their exact composition is.

Next episode in 2026

This Monday, October 7, 2024, the Hera mission, orchestrated by ESA, will take off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, from SpaceX. Note that initially, the probe should have reached the asteroid in 2022, in order to document the collision of the DART mission in real time. But she then had to take her place aboard the European Ariane 6 rocket, which experienced numerous delays, before finally making its first flight in July 2024.

A setback which should not prevent the Hera probe from completing its mission, while being solidly equipped: twelve different instruments will thus be sent into space, including two drones which will be able to fly over the surface of the asteroid and even land there, to make more precise measurements. After the launch on October 7, 2024, the rest will not be known until the end of 2026, when the Hera mission will have reached its destination.

How to follow the launch of the Hera mission live?

The launch is expected to take place on October 7, 2024, from the Cape Canaveral base, Florida, United States. The event will be broadcast live on several platforms, such as ESA Web TV, as well as their official YouTube channel. The exact time has not yet been communicated.