Tag: Hera
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DART in transit to Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of November 2021 launch
After completing months of tests and assembly, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is in transit to Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California ahead of its launch. DART is a first-of-its-kind NASA mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection via a kinetic impact. The probe will launch on a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket from Space…
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ESA’s Hera planetary defense mission signs prime contractor, on course for launch in 2024
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a design, manufacturing, and testing contract with OHB of Germany for their Hera planetary defense mission, marking a major advancement toward the agency’s commitment to NASA for their joint Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment project. NASA’s portion is scheduled to launch in July 2021 and slam into the…
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Hera adds objectives to planetary defense test mission
An international planetary defense mission involving NASA and ESA will now include two CubeSats. APEX (Asteroid Prospection Explorer) and Juventas will ride with ESA’s Hera spacecraft, which is set to arrive at the Didymos binary asteroid system shortly after NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Test) spacecraft has impacted the smaller of the two objects, Didymoon. Hera will arrive to take observations…