After traveling millions of kilometers through interplanetary space over the past two years, Hera, the spacecraft built by OHB for the European Space Agency (ESA), has returned its first close-up images of the Didymos asteroid system. The newly released views mark the start of the final and most critical phase of Europe\u2019s first planetary defense mission.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Captured from around 60 kilometers away, the image reveals a previously unseen side of Didymos, the larger member of the binary asteroid system. The asteroid\u2019s rugged surface, marked by boulders, craters, and ridge-like features, offers scientists a first glimpse of the environment Hera will soon investigate in unprecedented detail.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSeeing Hera\u2019s first close-up images from the Didymos system is a special moment for everyone involved in this mission,\u201d said Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB. \u201cAfter years of development, testing, and operations, the spacecraft is now delivering exactly what it was designed to do. These first images demonstrate the outstanding performance of Hera and are only the beginning. In the coming weeks, the mission will provide the data needed to understand the outcome of humanity\u2019s first successful asteroid deflection experiment and help strengthen our ability to protect Earth from future threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first close-up image, published by ESA, represents an important milestone as Hera continues its final approach toward the asteroid pair. The spacecraft will move progressively closer to Didymos and Dimorphos, capturing increasingly detailed observations of both bodies. High-resolution imaging of the DART impact site is expected during the mission\u2019s rendezvous phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hera demonstrates outstanding performance on final approach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All spacecraft systems have been successfully tested and verified. Most recently, Hera completed rehearsals for its complex rendezvous and proximity operations. Following a series of precise trajectory-correction and braking maneuvers, the spacecraft is now on its final approach path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mission team has also completed deployment rehearsals for Hera\u2019s two CubeSats, Juventas and Milani. To support these activities, OHB temporarily reconfigured its Avionic Test Bench, a full-scale spacecraft model equipped with functioning electronics and cameras, from ESA\u2019s follow-on mission RAMSES back to the Hera configuration. The deployment rehearsals were completed successfully. Once released, the CubeSats are expected to provide unique insights into the asteroid\u2019s internal structure and composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For European spaceflight, Hera\u2019s arrival marks a major milestone. Launched from Cape Canaveral on 7 October 2024, the spacecraft is heading to the Didymos-Dimorphos system to investigate the aftermath of NASA\u2019s DART impact. In 2022, DART demonstrated for the first time that an asteroid\u2019s orbit can be altered through kinetic impact. Hera will now provide the detailed measurements needed to assess the effectiveness of that technique with unprecedented accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A record-breaking project made in Bremen and powered by European teamwork<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hera is also the result of an exceptional European industrial achievement. Led by OHB, the spacecraft was developed, built, integrated, tested, and launched in just four years, an exceptionally short schedule for a deep-space mission of this complexity. The mission brings together around 100 companies and research institutions from 18 ESA Member States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The knowledge gained at Didymos and Dimorphos will help shape future international planetary defense strategies and is already supporting preparations for ESA\u2019s follow-on asteroid mission, RAMSES, which is also being built by OHB and its industrial partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The successful development of Hera demonstrates Europe\u2019s ability to deliver highly complex planetary-defense missions on ambitious schedules. Attention is now turning to the asteroid system itself. The first close-up images already offer scientists a new perspective on Didymos and may provide valuable clues about how material was redistributed throughout the system following the DART impact. As Hera continues its approach, the mission will gather the detailed data needed to transform asteroid deflection from a one-time demonstration into a well-understood and potentially repeatable planetary-defense capability. The next major milestone will follow on November 25, when ESA unveils detailed images of both asteroids, providing an unprecedented look at the target of humanity\u2019s first successful asteroid-deflection test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After traveling millions of kilometers through interplanetary space over the past two years, Hera, the spacecraft built by OHB for the European Space Agency (ESA), has returned its first close-up images of the Didymos asteroid system. The newly released views mark the start of the final and most critical phase of Europe\u2019s first planetary defense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13663"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13666,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13663\/revisions\/13666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n