{"id":23952,"date":"2024-10-07T21:15:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T13:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/esas-hera-mission-launched-to-asteroid-binary-as-falcon-9-returns-to-flight\/"},"modified":"2024-10-07T21:15:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T13:15:35","slug":"esas-hera-mission-launched-to-asteroid-binary-as-falcon-9-returns-to-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/esas-hera-mission-launched-to-asteroid-binary-as-falcon-9-returns-to-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"ESA\u2019s Hera mission launched to asteroid binary as Falcon 9 returns to flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Space Agency\u2019s (ESA) Hera mission, which is traveling to asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos as a follow-up to NASA\u2019s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, beat weather odds and successfully launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This flight, the 95th Falcon flight of 2024, was the first Falcon 9 mission to fly after the second stage deorbit burn anomaly that occurred during the Crew-9 mission on Sept. 28.<\/p>\n

Hera launched on Monday, Oct. 7, at 10:52 AM EDT (14:52 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. With the formation of Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico, the weather forecast for launch had been 15 percent favorable, but the weather was acceptable at launch time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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ESA\u2019s Hera spacecraft mounted atop its Falcon 9 before being encapsulated in its fairing. (Credit: ESA)<\/p>\n

Following the Crew-9 second stage anomaly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began a mishap investigation into the anomaly with the second stage. Initially, it was believed Hera would be unable to launch until the investigation was completed, but the FAA recently granted SpaceX the license needed to only launch the Hera mission. The license was granted since the Falcon 9 second stage being flown with Hera will not perform a deorbit burn.<\/p>\n

CCSFS and the nearby Patrick Space Force Base are currently under HURCON 4 status, which means that surface winds greater than 50 knots could reach the area within 72 hours. Hurricane Milton, currently located in the western Gulf of Mexico, has strengthened significantly and is set to make landfall on the west coast of Florida later this week and subsequently moving across the rest of the Florida peninsula, which would bring the storm near or directly over the Cape.<\/p>\n

The booster, B1061-23, was expended due to Hera\u2019s mission performance requirements. Hera was deployed at a velocity of 5.9 km\/s, the fastest escape velocity mission flown by a Falcon family rocket to date. This record is likely to be brief, though, as the launch of the Europa Clipper mission atop a Falcon Heavy is expected to be launched later this month. Europa Clipper was initially expected to launch next week on Oct. 10 but has since been delayed to late October due to Hurricane Milton.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n