SpaceX, ESA to launch Hera spacecraft to study impact of NASA's DART mission

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- SpaceX and the European Space Agency plan to launch a spacecraft on Monday that will study the impacts of a NASA planetary defense test meant to alter the trajectory of asteroids.

If the weather cooperates, with Hurricane Milton brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, the Hera mission will blast off from Cape Canaveral's Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m., EDT.

The mission aims to chase down the Didymos asteroid and its moon Dimorphos after NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test intentionally struck the flying space rock two years ago to see if it was possible to knock it off its path.

In something that seems like it came from a science fiction movie, the test is a real-life examination to see if the test and how much damage the asteroid actually worked. The test and examination have actually been nearly two decades in the making.

"It's been 18 years we've been working to put this mission together so that you can imagine our emotions, not only mine, but the whole team," Ian Carnelli, project manager for the Hera project.

Hera is expected to reach the asteroid and its moon in late 2026 and will evaluate the size and depth of the crater that the DART collision caused and how efficient the impact was.

Two cubesats will also be sent out to examine details of Dimorphos including its surface minerals, internal structure and gravity.

The wildcard in the launch is the weather and if a new Florida hurricane, Milton, could affect the takeoff as it sits in the Gulf of Mexico. Florida and much of the Southeast are still recovering from Hurricane Helene.