Hera is a European Space Agency mission that will rendezvous with the binary asteroid pair Didymos and its 151‑meter moonlet Dimorphos to image and measure the aftermath of NASA’s 2022 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). Launched on 7 October 2024 on a SpaceX Falcon‑9, Hera took just over two years to reach the target and has already imaged Didymos. Didymos is about 780 meters across, orbits the Sun every 2.1 years and spins every 2.2 hours; Dimorphos is a rubble‑pile satellite whose orbit was shortened by roughly 32 minutes after DART’s 6.6 km/s impact, which produced an observable debris stream. Hera will acquire baseline measurements from roughly 25-30 kilometers and return the first close views of the impact site and ejecta, data that directly inform planetary‑defense techniques.
The spacecraft carries two CubeSats - Juventas (GomSpace) and Milani (Tyvak) - that will separate after rendezvous to probe internal structure, attempt close approaches or contact with Dimorphos, and analyze the dust environment and spectral composition of both bodies. Surface descriptions emphasize low gravity, boulder fields, and the dramatic presence of the companion asteroid dominating the sky. After the nominal mission concludes in 2027, controllers are considering an extension to use Hera as a technology demonstrator for autonomous spacecraft control.
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