A spacecraft is on its way to an asteroid

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on a two-year journey to the asteroid Dimorphos, which was intentionally struck by NASA’s Dart mission in 2022 as a test for planetary defense. Hera will study the aftermath of this impact to determine how effective Dart was in altering the asteroid’s trajectory. The mission aims to gather detailed scientific data, which could be crucial for future efforts to deflect potentially hazardous asteroids headed toward Earth. Equipped with 12 instruments, Hera will survey the asteroid’s mass, shape, and orbit, while also deploying small CubeSats for closer observations. This $400 million mission seeks to improve humanity’s preparedness for potential asteroid threats.

Source: AP News