Science & Tech · Space · 1 hr ago
ESA’s Hera mission is set to reach the Didymos asteroid pair in November
ESA’s Hera spacecraft is due to reach the Didymos asteroid pair in November after travelling for just over two years.
The pair includes Didymos and its smaller moonlet, Dimorphos, which NASA’s DART spacecraft struck in 2022.
That impact shortened Dimorphos’s orbit around Didymos by about 32 minutes and sent debris into space.
Hera will take close-up views of the pair and examine the impact’s effects.
The mission could help scientists understand whether a dangerous asteroid might be nudged away from Earth.
Hera will release two small spacecraft, Juventas and Milani, to study the asteroids’ interiors, dust and composition.
Their observations will add to knowledge about how to respond to asteroid threats.
ESA’s Hera spacecraft is set to rendezvous with the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid pair in November.
The mission will provide close-up views of Dimorphos after NASA’s DART spacecraft struck it in 2022.
Hera launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on October 7, 2024.
The spacecraft imaged Didymos in July 2026, but the pair remained only a few pixels across in its view.
Hera’s Juventas and Milani CubeSats are expected to separate from the spacecraft shortly after rendezvous.
- Who
- The European Space Agency’s Hera mission.
- What
- It is set to rendezvous with the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid pair and study the aftermath of DART’s impact.
- When
- November; the article was published on October 13, 2026.
- Where
- At the binary asteroid pair Didymos and Dimorphos.
- Why
- To study the asteroids and DART’s impact; such research could help inform efforts to move an asteroid threatening Earth.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Hera launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.
NASA’s DART spacecraft struck Dimorphos.
Hera imaged Didymos.
Hera is set to rendezvous with the Didymos-Dimorphos pair.
- Mission
- Hera
- Destination
- Didymos-Dimorphos binary asteroid pair
- Launch
- October 7, 2024, from Cape Canaveral
- DART impact
- 2022
- Asteroid image
- Didymos imaged by Hera in July 2026
- CubeSats
- Juventas and Milani
What people are saying
The European Space Agency (ESA) recently released a thought-provoking look at the perspectives of Hera
Sources
Related news
SpaceX launches more than 6,300 pounds of cargo to the space station
Perseverance rover sets record for driving distance on another world
SpaceX rocket plume creates a glowing ‘jellyfish’ in the dawn sky
Hubble data point to a possible second-generation planet around a white dwarf
NASA astronaut photographs auroras from the ISS with an iPhone
Webb traces the most distant fast radio burst to a small galaxy
ORBES plans to send robots to the ISS and capture exterior footage
Vast engineer Brianna Clark works on technology for future space living
FAA analyst Kayla Bigham works to keep commercial spaceflight safe
French astronaut Sophie Adenot says space brought a full range of emotions
NASA releases nearly 800 GB of Artemis II lunar data
