The European probe ESA Hera, which will be sent to the asteroid Dimorphos, was assembled in Bremen, where its two main components were connected, writes space.com. The probe will be sent on a SpaceX rocket in October 2024, and its journey will last 26 months.

In this final step, the probe was assembled in Bremen, a three-hour process, and will now be sent to the Netherlands for testing and the addition of small final components.

The space launch will take place from Cape Canaveral in the fall of 2024, and arrival at the binary asteroid system is scheduled for late 2026 (December).

The probe weighs 870 kg and will be launched on a Falcon 9 rocket.

In Greek mythology, Hera is the patron goddess of marriage, home and married women, as well as the queen of gods and men. Among the Romans, she is identified with Juno.

It will be recalled that NASA managed to divert an asteroid from its trajectory by smashing a space probe against its surface at the end of September 2022, in an unprecedented test mission that will help humanity learn to defend itself against a possible future threat.

The DART mission probe deliberately hit its target, the asteroid Dimorphos, which is a satellite of a larger asteroid called Didymos. Dimorphos, the asteroid that NASA intercepted, does not pose any danger to Earth, but only serves as a celestial test object for this mission. The width of the asteroid is 163 meters. Dimorphos orbits the much larger asteroid Didymos, which is 790 meters in diameter. They make up the binary system.

Europe’s Hera mission was originally supposed to observe the impact of DART in real time, but there have been significant delays. Hera will analyze the asteroid system with its instruments: Lidar sensors, an optical camera and a thermal imaging camera to analyze the composition.

The HERA spacecraft, which is about the size of a table, will also conduct the first experimental demonstrations of many new technologies, such as a system for autonomous navigation around an asteroid — similar to cars on autopilot on Earth — while collecting important scientific data. data that will help scientists, as well as those thinking about future space missions, better understand the composition and structure of asteroids.

Romania also contributed to the Hera mission, our country, together with Portugal, was responsible for the development of the laser altimeter, an instrument that will provide important information for the mission’s autonomous navigation.

In addition, Romania also worked on the imaging unit, communication system and electronic test equipment, and contributed to the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system.

Hera will launch European CubeSats — mini-satellites built from 10-centimeter modules — into deep space for the first time. They will closely study asteroids and for the first time use a radar probe to study the interior of an asteroid, the instrument being an improved version of the radar system used by ESA on the Rosetta mission that studied the comet.