Final preparations are under way to send a European spacecraft to an asteroid to discover what happened when a Nasa probe deliberately slammed into th

European space mission to examine Nasa asteroid impact site

submited by

Style Pass

2024-10-06 10:30:05

Final preparations are under way to send a European spacecraft to an asteroid to discover what happened when a Nasa probe deliberately slammed into the space rock two years ago.

The European Space Agency’s Hera mission will survey the impact site and make detailed measurements of the battered rock, Dimorphos, to help researchers hone their strategies for defending Earth should a wayward asteroid ever threaten the planet in the future.

Hera is due to launch on Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 10.52am local time (3.52pm BST). All being well, the probe will swoop past Mars in March next year and reach the asteroid more than 110m miles (177m km) from Earth in December 2026.

“It’s a series of breathtaking moments,” Paolo Martino, the lead engineer and deputy project manager said of the mission from ESA’s base in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. “The first one is surviving the launch.”

Beyond the routine risks of poor weather and technical problems that can keep missions on the launchpad, there have been uncertainties over whether the SpaceX rocket will be allowed to fly. Last week, the Falcon 9 was grounded by the US Federal Aviation Administration for the third time in three months after it experienced an upper stage malfunction as it fell back to Earth.