NASA has selected 12 participating scientists to join ESA’s (European Space Agency) Hera mission, scheduled to launch in October 2024. The mission aims to study the binary asteroid system Didymos, focusing on the moonlet Dimorphos, which was impacted by NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft in 2022. The collaboration between NASA and ESA seeks to validate the kinetic impact method as a means to deflect asteroids on potential collision courses with Earth.
Hera is set to reach the Didymos/Dimorphos system by the end of 2026, gathering crucial data on the composition of the bodies and assessing changes caused by the DART spacecraft’s impact. The Hera Participating Scientist Program supports U.S. scientists in addressing planetary defense questions and near-Earth asteroid studies. The selected scientists will join the Hera science team for a five-year term.
The newly chosen participating scientists include researchers from institutions such as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and University of Colorado, Boulder, among others. DART, NASA’s first planetary defense test mission, is part of the agency’s efforts in planetary defense. The collaboration between international partners in DART and Hera missions showcases the global cooperation in planetary defense research.
