Hera Probe to investigate potential asteroid threats to Earth
After being struck by a NASA spacecraft to alter its trajectory, the asteroid Dimorphos will now be studied by the European Hera probe, which is set to launch on Monday in order to investigate how to protect humanity from potential future threats.
The spacecraft of the Dart mission deliberately crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, which is the moon of a larger asteroid named Didymos.
This unprecedented planetary defence test mission aimed to determine whether it is possible to change an asteroid’s trajectory in preparation for any potential collision with Earth.
It is estimated that an object roughly one kilometre in size—capable of triggering a global catastrophe—impacts Earth once every 500,000 years. Meanwhile, an asteroid around 140 meters in diameter strikes every 20,000 years.
Among these near-Earth objects, most of which originate from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, nearly all of the one-kilometre-sized asteroids are tracked, and none pose a threat to Earth within the next century.
