Hera

Hera is the first planetary defence spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). Its primary mission objective is to study the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted in 2022 by NASA's DART spacecraft and contribute to validation of the kinetic impact method to deviate a near-Earth asteroid from a colliding trajectory with Earth. 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. The spacecraft was launched on 7 October 2024 by Falcon 9. Hera is the first mission of ESA's Space Safety Programme.

MainTimelineWikipediaGalleryBibliographyTableSearch

2024 Website,  Wikimedia, Wikidata
Hera spacecraft
space probe, SpaceX, 

​

Location: KML, Cluster Map, Maps,

2024-10-07T00:00:00Z

2024-10-07T00:00:00Z

2024 Hera

2024-10-07T00:00:00Z

2024-10-07T00:00:00Z

rocket launch

2026-12-01T00:00:00Z

2026-12-01T00:00:00Z

rendezvous

{"selectable":false,"showCurrentTime":false,"width":"100%","zoomMin":100000000000}

Frameless

Hera spacecraft design

Hera spacecraft design

Hera in orbit

GRALS binary asteroid testing ESA397377

Hera glides past Didymos

Download full size image: www.flickr.com/photos/192271236@N03/54386120493/sizes/o/. Credit: ESA/AFC/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY. Colourised image processed from: www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Hera_asteroid_mission_spies....

• A spaceship punched an asteroid — we’re about to learn what came next - scientific article published on 4 October 2024, online
• A spaceship punched an asteroid — we’re about to learn what came next - scientific article published on 4 October 2024, online

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
commons	image		Hera spacecraft design		Commons
commons	image		Hera spacecraft design		Commons
commons	image		Hera in orbit		Commons
commons	image		GRALS binary asteroid testing ESA397377		Commons
commons	image		Hera glides past Didymos		Commons
commons	image		Download full size image: www.flickr.com/photos/192271236@N03/54386120493/sizes/o/. Credit: ESA/AFC/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY. Colourised image processed from: www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Hera_asteroid_mission_spies....		Commons