The Planetary Sciences team from the University of Alicante (UA) took part in the launch of the Hera mission by the European Space Agency (ESA), scheduled for October 7, 2024, from Cape Canaveral. UA researchers Adriano Campo Bagatin, Paula Benavidez, Laura M. Parro, and Po-Yen Liu attended the launch of the first probe to explore the binary asteroid system Didymos.
Hera is part of the planetary defense strategy and follows NASA’s DART mission, which impacted the asteroid Dimorphos to alter its orbit. The UA team studies the internal structure of asteroids and the evolution of the material ejected by the DART collision. They expect to receive the first images of the asteroid in 2026, which will help improve preparedness to deflect asteroids that could threaten Earth, such as Apophis in 2029.