"We want to see that acquisition of signal at the end where Here calls home and says, 'It's okay, I'm on my way to Dimorphous,'" said astronomer Alan Fitzsimmons, a Hera science team member, emphasizing the mission's importance in planetary defense.
"We've got a working spacecraft," Fitzsimmons added. "We're now going back to Didymos and Dimorphos, we'll make those measurements and we'll make the world a safer place from the impact of asteroids."
The Hera mission follows NASA's DART impact on Dimorphos, which successfully altered its orbit, showcasing the feasibility of using such strategies to defend Earth from potential asteroid threats.
ESA's Hera successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, beginning a critical multimillion-mile journey to gather valuable data on the aftermath of the DART mission.
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