Back Hera (missió espacial) Catalan Hera (Raumfahrtmission) German Hera (sonda) Spanish هرا (مأموریت فضایی) Persian Hera (mission spatiale) French Hera (missione spaziale) Italian Hera (探査機) Japanese Hera (missão espacial) Portuguese Hera (misiune spațială) Romanian Гера (космический аппарат) Russian
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&sq=engine&lang=en&file=File:Hera_in_orbit.jpg) Artist's impression of Hera in orbit around the asteroid Didymos | |||||||||||||
| Mission type | Didymos orbiter | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | European Space Agency | ||||||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 2024-180A | ||||||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 61449 | ||||||||||||
| Website | heramission | ||||||||||||
| Mission duration | 28 days (elapsed) 2 years, 9 months (planned)[a] | ||||||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | OHB SE | ||||||||||||
| Launch mass | 1,128 kg (2,487 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Dry mass | 350 kg (770 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Dimensions | 1.6 × 1.6 × 1.7 m (5.2 × 5.2 × 5.6 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||||
| Launch date | 7 October 2024, 14:52:11 UTC[1][2] (10:52:11 am EDT) | ||||||||||||
| Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1061.23) | ||||||||||||
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC‑40 | ||||||||||||
| Contractor | SpaceX | ||||||||||||
| Flyby of Mars | |||||||||||||
| Closest approach | March 2025[3] | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 5,000–8,000 km (3,100–5,000 mi) | ||||||||||||
| 65803 Didymos orbiter | |||||||||||||
| Orbital insertion | 14 December 2026[3] | ||||||||||||
&sq=engine&lang=en&file=File:Hera_spacecraft_design.jpg)
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&sq=engine&lang=en&file=File:Hera_mission_insignia.png) Mission insignia | |||||||||||||
Hera is a spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency for its space safety program. Its primary mission objective is to study the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted four years earlier by the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft and contribute to validation of the kinetic impact method to deviate a near-Earth asteroid from a colliding trajectory with Earth. It will measure the size and morphology of the crater created as well as the momentum transferred by an artificial projectile impacting an asteroid, which will allow measuring the efficiency of the deflection produced by the impact. It will also analyze the expanding debris cloud caused by the impact.[4]
The spacecraft was launched on 7 October 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle and will study the results of the DART impactor, four years after impact. DART impacted the asteroid Dimorphos, the smaller of two objects forming the binary asteroid 65803 Didymos, on 27 September 2022. The launch vehicle, B1061, previously used for the Crew-1 mission, was expended on this flight.[not verified in body]
Hera has a mass of 1,128 kg (2,487 lb) and carries a payload of cameras, an altimeter, and a spectrometer. It is carrying two small CubeSat spacecraft, called Milani and Juventas.
Hera is intended to fully characterize the composition and physical properties of the binary asteroid system including, for the first time, the sub-surface and internal structures. It will also perform technological demonstrations linked to operations in the vicinity of a small Solar System body and the deployment of and communication with CubeSats in interplanetary space.
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