ESA’s Hera spacecraft is headed to Dimorphos to inspect the aftermath of NASA’s 2022 DART impact. The collision deliberately changed the asteroid moonlet’s orbit around Didymos; Hera’s close-up measurements will help scientists learn exactly how the impact worked and how reliable this technique could be for planetary defense. The Didymos system is not a threat to Earth.
What is Hera investigating?
Dimorphos is a small asteroid moonlet orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos. NASA’s DART spacecraft struck Dimorphos on 26 September 2022 in a controlled test of whether a spacecraft could deflect an asteroid. ESA calls Hera’s follow-up a “crash scene investigation”: the metaphor describes a planned scientific study, not a response to an accident or an emergency. ESA’s mission overview explains the investigation.
Hera is designed to examine the impact region and the system at close range. Its measurements will help scientists determine Dimorphos’s mass and structure, map its surface and assess how the impact changed it. Whether DART left a crater or reshaped the moonlet remains a question for the investigation, not a confirmed result. ESA’s FAQ describes these open questions.
Two CubeSats add close-up measurements
Hera carries two smaller spacecraft. Milani will survey mineral composition, while Juventas will use radar to probe inside an asteroid. ESA says the CubeSats can deploy and operate closer to the bodies than the main spacecraft, complementing Hera’s observations.
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Did DART really change an asteroid’s orbit?
Yes. NASA reports that Dimorphos’s orbital period around Didymos shortened from 11 hours 55 minutes before impact to 11 hours 23 minutes afterward—a measured reduction of 32 minutes. This is the moonlet’s orbit around its companion, not the pair’s orbit around the Sun. NASA’s DART mission summary gives the observed values.
The impact also affected the orbit of the Didymos–Dimorphos system around the Sun, a separate measurement. In a 2026 account of a study, NASA reported that this solar-orbit period changed by 0.15 seconds. That small change is distinct from the 32-minute shortening of Dimorphos’s local orbit. NASA’s report on the study describes the solar-orbit result.
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How can crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid help protect Earth?
DART tested a kinetic impactor: a spacecraft collides with an asteroid to change its motion. The impact also threw material off Dimorphos; the escaping debris carried momentum, adding to the push. NASA’s 2026 account says the momentum-enhancement factor in the study was about two, meaning the debris roughly doubled the impact’s effect. Study lead Rahil Makadia described the binary system’s orbital-speed change as “about 11.7 microns per second, or 1.7 inches per hour.” These figures refer to the system’s motion and the study’s analysis, not to the 32-minute change in Dimorphos’s orbit around Didymos.
That result makes kinetic impact a promising technique, not a universal guarantee. NASA says more work is needed to understand how well it would work on a more solid asteroid, which might eject less material and therefore receive less of that extra momentum. A real response would also require finding a hazardous object early enough to plan and launch a mission. NASA’s planetary-defense overview discusses the limits and implications.
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Is Dimorphos going to hit Earth?
No. NASA says neither Didymos nor Dimorphos poses a threat to Earth, and the impact did not put the system on a collision course. The test demonstrates a possible way to nudge a future hazardous asteroid, provided one is discovered with enough warning; it was not an attempt to avert an imminent impact.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When will Hera reach the asteroid system?
ESA lists Hera’s launch date as 7 October 2024 and its rendezvous month as November 2026. The ESA mission page’s 17 March 2026 update said the spacecraft was “on course” for rendezvous. That wording reflects the dated update, not a live status report. ESA’s Hera page carries the schedule and mission updates.
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