A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Monday(Oct. 7) at 1452 UTC, launched European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft to interplanetary transfer orbit, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Hera will arrive in 2026 at Dimorphos, the target asteroid of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test(DART) mission.
“Planetary defense is an inherently international endeavour, and I am really happy to see ESA's Hera spacecraft at the forefront of Europe’s efforts to help protect Earth," ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said in a statement after launch. "Hera is a bold step in scaling up ESA’s engagement in planetary defence."
Unlike during typical SpaceX launches, this particular reusable Falcon 9 first stage(or booster 1061) was expended after successful stage separation, because it had to use up all its fuel to launch Hera on its asteroid mission.
"Farewell, 1061, and we thank you," SpaceX's John Insprucker, principal integration engineer, said to the booster after stage separation.
"Due to the additional performance required to deliver Hera to interplanetary transfer orbit, this is the 23rd and final mission for this Falcon 9 first stage booster," SpaceX explained on X. "This first stage previously launched Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, Korea 425, Maxar 1, ASBM, and 10 Starlink missions."
The Falcon 9 upper stage deployed Hera to interplanetary transfer orbit about 76 minutes after liftoff, and it has successfully phoned home for its signal acquisition, ESA officials said, delighting astronomer Alan Fitzsimmons, a Hera science team board member. "We've got a working spacecraft," he said. "We're now going back to Didymos and Dimorphos, we'll make those measurements and we'll make the world a safer place from the impact of asteroids."
Hera is currently on its multimillion-mile flight across the solar system, as it heads to the binary asteroid system Didymos, which became famous in September 2022, after NASA smashed its DART spacecraft into Didymos' smaller companion, Dimorphos. That impact altered the orbit of Dimorphos, demonstrating the utility of a planetary defense strategy that could help keep Earth safe from rogue asteroids.
SpaceX explained on X, Monday, "Hera is @ESA’s planetary defense mission that will study the impact NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft had on the Dimorphos asteroid, which launched on Falcon 9 in November 2021. Hera will provide valuable data for future asteroid deflection missions and science to help humanity’s understanding of asteroid geophysics as well as solar system formation and evolutionary processes.i
On the way in 2025, Hera will swing by Mars to avail itself of a gravity assist for its asteroid trip. The DART mission shortened Dimorphos' orbit by 33 minutes.
Hera will look at the depth and size of the crater that DART gouged out on Dimorphos and confirm the impact's changes on the little moon, if any, against early simulations.
The $398 million Hera spacecraft is accompanied by two smaller cubesats, named Milani and Juventas, which will examine the structure of Dimorphos along with its surface minerals and gravity.
