HERA

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, the world’s first planetary defense test mission, launched on November 24, 2021. With Redwire’s Roll-Out Solar Array and digital sun sensors onboard, DART made history when it successfully impacted the moonlet of binary asteroid Didymos in September of 2022 to adjust its speed and trajectory.

As a follow-up to DART, The European Space Agency’s Hera Mission is performing the most detailed exploration yet of a binary asteroid system by conducting a detailed post-impact survey of the target asteroid, Dimorphos – the orbiting moonlet of Didymos. The primary Hera spacecraft and its two companion cubesats will analyze the aftermath of DART’s impact and determine if the spacecraft changed the asteroid’s trajectory. Hera’s detailed investigations will substantially enhance the planetary defense knowledge gained from DART. Together, DART and Hera will demonstrate critical technology that could one day be used to protect Earth from a dangerous asteroid or comet, setting the stage for future planetary defense missions.