Meet Hera, our very personal asteroid detective. Along with two CubeSats – Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary – Hera is off on an journey to discover Didymos, a double asteroid system that’s typical of the 1000’s that pose an influence danger to planet Earth.
In September 2022 NASA’s DART spacecraft examined if it was attainable to divert an asteroid by giving it a shove – and discovered that it was! Vital information, ought to we want to keep away from going the identical manner because the dinosaurs. Astronomers can observe from afar how the smaller asteroid’s orbit has shifted since DART’s influence, however there’s nonetheless a lacking piece of the puzzle if we wish to totally perceive how ‘kinetic impacting’ works in observe. Appropriate for youths and adults alike, this episode of ‘The Unimaginable Adventures of Hera’ explains why ESA’s asteroid detective and its CubeSat assistants have to stand up shut and private to shine gentle on this cosmic thriller.
Watch the opposite episodes of The Unimaginable Adventures of the Hera Mission
