ESA’s Hera Spacecraft Begins Close-Up Study of Asteroid Struck by NASA Written 12 November 2026
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#/media/File:Hera_in_orbit.jpg "ESA’s Hera Spacecraft Begins Close-Up Study of Asteroid Struck by NASA")
Artist’s impression of Hera in orbit around Dimorphos. | Credit: ESA; Wikipedia; CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
AP News reports that the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft has begun close-range observations of Dimorphos, the asteroid NASA deliberately struck in 2022 to test planetary defense capabilities. NASA’s DART mission successfully altered the moonlet’s orbit around Didymos and, “More importantly, it nudged the moonlet into a slightly different path around the sun.” Now observing the asteroid pair from approximately 15 to 18 miles away, Hera will move within 12 miles next month, using its scientific instruments and two CubeSats to investigate the impact’s effects.
Full Story (AP News)