Hera will arrive in 2026 at Dimorphos, an asteroid deliberately struck by NASA's DART spacecraft
ESA's Hera mission lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, on 7 October at 10:52 local time. A unique asteroid mission is underway. The European Space Agency's Hera mission launched today (Oct. 7) at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 GMT), riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in coastal Florida. ESA's Hera spacecraft soared into a cloudy sky above Florida to begin a multimillion-mile trek across the solar system to the binary asteroid system Didymos, which became famous in September 2022 after NASA smacked its DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Mission) into Didymos' smaller companion, Dimorphos. That impact altered the orbit of Dimorphos, demonstrating the utility of a planetary defense strategy that could help keep Earth safe from rogue asteroids in the future. Hera will follow up on the DART mission to check on its aftermath. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. "We want to see that acquisition of signal at the end where Here calls home and says, 'It's okay, I'm on my way to Dimorphous," said astronomer Alan Fitzsimmons, a Hera science team board member, said before launch in a live webcast.…