In 2022, a dart mission, and Noseconfirmed for the first time their ability destroy an asteroid of its orbit. Two years later, ESA’s Hera mission aims to closely study the results of this procedure.
The two space agencies, American and European, intended to work together from the beginning. The project, originally named Aida (acronym for Asteroid Impact and Deflection Verification), began in 2013 and had two spacecraft planned: the first to launch the European AIM (Asteroid Impact Mission), which would orbit the asteroid Didymus and study it even before the American Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) collided with its small moon, Dimorph.
However, ESA was unable to secure funding to maintain the original record; In the end AIM was canceled and replaced by Hera – basically the same mission, but focused on studying the double asteroid four years after the impact of Dart, at a cost of 350 million euros.
The launch window opens next Monday (7) and extends to the 27th, on a Falcon 9 rocket, from LocationX. The American company is working to quickly activate its fleet of surgeons, after a irregularity with the second degree after the flight Team-9 mission Yes International Space Station (ISS, its acronym in English). The launch window is for Hera and also for Europa Clipper, NASA’s Jupiter-bound probe.
On the way, Hera passes Martein March 2025, which will serve as a test for its equipment and also as a gravitational pull to access the Didymus-Dimorph system in December 2026.
SENDING AN ASTEROID
Dart’s goal was simply to enter the Dimorphousthe other side of its orbital motion, hopefully the high speed impact (6.1 km/s) able to change its orbit slightly. The accident occurred on September 26, 2022, after a little less than a year of travel.
Subsequent observations with space and ground telescopes showed that Dimorph’s orbital period (the time it takes to orbit Didymus) was reduced by nearly 33 minutes.
The change was greater than expected, indicating great efficiency for the method of deflecting asteroids through kinetic impact – this is because ejecting material from the asteroid a- more kick in the change in speed than the crash alone. One debris path of 10 thousand km observed by the Soar telescope, a project with Brazilian participation installed in Chile.
All this was good news for the effort to protect the Earth from future asteroid strikes. The Dimorph, at around 150 meters, would already be considered potentially dangerous if it were on a collision course with Earth. Didymus, therefore, at 780 meters, do not even mention it.
WHAT WILL BE THERE?
Dart’s main goal was to destroy the asteroid, but not to study it properly. Hera will do this now. And with the opportunity to also analyze its internal buildings, thanks to the pit that opened the previous mission in Dimorfo, revealing material from its interior. And of course, Didymus will also be a subject of study.
The main spacecraft weighs 1,128 kg and has five instruments: three cameras (one in the visible spectrum, one in the infrared and one with several bands between the visible and near infrared), a laser altimeter and a radio system.
In addition, two cubesats (smaller and simpler spacecraft, weighing 12 kg each) are part of the mission: Milani and Juventas. They will make joint observations of the asteroids and it is thought that both will finish their work with a soft landing on Dimorfos. The main spacecraft can complete the mission by descending to the surface of Dídimus. But none of them were designed specifically for this – they are just possible with bonuses.
2024-10-04 14:00:00
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