03/27/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/27/2024 09:41
On 15th April, media are invited to see ESA's Hera spacecraft in the cleanroom at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The spacecraft is currently undergoing final testing ahead of launch in October from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Somewhere in the vastness of space might lurk an unobserved asteroid on course for a head-on collision with our planet. This impact could be devastating for humankind which is why ESA is preparing a planetary defence mission called Hera.
As part of the world's first test of asteroid deflection, ESA's Hera mission will perform a detailed post-impact survey of Dimorphos - the 160-metre asteroid struck, and successfully deflected, by NASA's DART spacecraft in 2022.
Hera will soon study the aftermath, gathering vital missing data to turn this grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and potentially repeatable planetary defence technique.
The van-sized spacecraft will perform a close-up survey of the Great Pyramid-sized Dimorphos as it orbits around its mountain-sized Didymos parent asteroid. A pair of shoebox-sized CubeSats will be deployed to fly even closer and take more risks. Italy's Milani CubeSat - named after the late professor who devised the original DART-Hera concept - will perform multispectral mineral prospecting while Luxembourg's Juventas CubeSat will perform the first subsurface radar survey of an asteroid. The pair will end their missions by landing on Dimorphos to try and gather surface data.
Before Hera and its two CubeSats fly, they need to be rigorously tested at ESA's ESTEC test centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. From the force and noise of the rocket take-off to the sustained vacuum and temperature extremes of deep space, all aspects of Hera's functioning are checked before they begin their journey.
Media event details and schedule:
ESA Hera experts available for interviews:
10:50 - 11:00 | Arrival and check-in at the gate house |
11:00 - 11:15 | Transfer to the Test Centre |
11:15 - 12:00 | Introduction to the Hera Mission |
12:00 - 12:45 | Cleanroom visit to view the Hera spacecraft.Please note you will only have 15-20 minutes in the cleanroom. You can take videos and photos. |
12:45 - 13:30 | Interview Opportunities with the Hera team.(Please email to pre-book interviews in advance) |
How to get there:
Address: ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk
Recommended transport: Car with parking available. Some electrical chargers are available as well.
Access and Security Guidelines: Please have a valid ID card on hand for identification when you arrive.
Cleanroom rules and regulations:
Media registration:
Please register your attendance here: https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form before Wednesday10th April.
For questions and to organise interviews with the HERA spokespeople please contact Taylor Willis - [email protected] or [email protected]
Journalists travelling further afield can also request a tour of the Test Centre (subject to availability).
More Information about HERA
ESA- Hera Mission - https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera
Images
Search Results for "HERA" - Photolibrary for professionals (esa.int)https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images
Terms and conditions for using ESA images:
www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images
For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly [email protected].
Videos
https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos_for_Professionals
Terms and conditions for using ESA videos:
https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions
For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly [email protected].
Social Media
Follow ESA on:
X: @esa
Instagram: @europeanspaceagency
Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency
YouTube: ESA
LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA
Pinterest: European Space Agency - ESA
About the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe's gateway to space.
ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members.
ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.
By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.
Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int