Mastodawn

2026-03-19 13:00:00 UTC (Delta: 2026-03-12)

WHERE IS HERA?
- Barycentric speed: 16.47 km/s (+0.17 km/s)
- Rendezvous with Didymos: November 2026

🪨 Relative to Didymos
- Distance (km): 8,758,147.57 km (-514,603.31 km)
- Distance (AU): 0.06 (-0.00)
- Light travel time: 0 min 29.21 s (-1.72 s)

🌎 Relative to Earth
- Distance (km): 279,255,479.18 km (-15,970,392.60 km)
- Distance (AU): 1.87 (-0.11)
- Light travel time: 15 min 31.52 s (-53.27 s)

#Hera #Didymos

RTN 1d ago

#ESA:
"
Hera auf Kurs zum Rendezvous mit ihrem Asteroiden
"
"Hera hat kürzlich das letzte von zwei Manövernum auf ihrer Reise von der Erde zu Didymos abgeschlossen. Das Manöver verbrauchte 123 kg des Hydrazin-Treibstoffs an Bord und veränderte die Geschwindigkeit der Sonde um 367 Meter pro Sekunde .."

https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/Germany/Hera_auf_Kurs_zum_Rendezvous_mit_ihrem_Asteroiden

17.3.2026

#Asteroid #Didymos #Estrack #Hera #Hydrazin #Raumfahrt #Raumsonde #Software #Softwareupdate #SpaceFlight

Hera auf Kurs zum Rendezvous mit ihrem Asteroiden

Die ESA-Sonde Hera ist nun auf Kurs für ihr Rendezvous mit dem Doppelasteroidensystem Didymos, dank eines erfolgreichen Weltraummanövers. Ihre Ankunft ist noch in diesem Jahr geplant.

65dBnoise 1d ago

#Hera recently completed the second of two deep-space manoeuvres on its journey from Earth to #Didymos. The manoeuvre burned 123 kg of onboard hydrazine fuel and changed the spacecraft’s velocity by 367 m/s.

The spacecraft will also have a software update. Just transferring the software to the spacecraft will take 3 hours; not because the files are too large, but rather because the "connection" will be slow.

Article and animations:
https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Hera_on_course_for_asteroid_rendezvous

#ESA #Europe #space #solarocks

Hera on course for asteroid rendezvous

A successful deep-space manoeuvre has put ESA’s Hera spacecraft on course for its rendezvous with the Didymos binary asteroid system later this year.

Where are we now?Mar 12

2026-03-12 13:00:00 UTC (Delta: 2026-03-05)

WHERE IS HERA?
- Barycentric speed: 16.29 km/s (+0.16 km/s)
- Rendezvous with Didymos: November 2026

🪨 Relative to Didymos
- Distance (km): 9,276,100.07 km (-531,948.12 km)
- Distance (AU): 0.06 (-0.00)
- Light travel time: 0 min 30.94 s (-1.77 s)

🌎 Relative to Earth
- Distance (km): 295,228,307.91 km (-15,954,187.37 km)
- Distance (AU): 1.97 (-0.11)
- Light travel time: 16 min 24.81 s (-53.22 s)

#Hera #Didymos

Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬Mar 9

#Asteroid defense mission shifted the orbit of more than its target
The immediate result was that #Dimorphos’ orbital period around #Didymos, its larger parent body, was slashed by 33 minutes.
Altering moonlet’s orbit doesn’t seem like enough to safeguard Earth from civilization-ending impacts. Observational data has come in, it seems we accomplished more than that. #DART actually changed the trajectory of entire Didymos binary system, altering its orbit around the Sun.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/nasas-dart-mission-shifted-the-orbits-of-two-asteroids/

Asteroid defense mission shifted the orbit of more than its target

The binary asteroid's orbit around the Sun was affected by the impact.

Ars Technica

Kuuke's Sterrenbeelden Mar 7

DART-missie deed meer dan alleen een asteroïde een duwtje geven
Met deze nieuwe bevindingen zijn onderzoekers dichter dan ooit bij de validatie van een belangrijke techniek voor planetaire verdediging.
#asteroïde #dart #didymos #Dimorphos #esa #hera #inslag #nasa
https://www.kuuke.nl/dart-missie-deed-meer-dan-alleen-een-asteroide-een-duwtje-geven/

65dBnoise Mar 7

First time a human-made object has measurably altered the path of a celestial body around the Sun.

According to the new research, the momentum enhancement factor for DART’s impact was about two, meaning that the debris loss doubled the punch created by the spacecraft alone.

How they measured it? Stellar occultations!

#NASA #Solarocks #Didymos #Dimorphos #Space

NASA’s DART Mission Changed Orbit of Asteroid Didymos Around Sun - NASA

New research reveals that when NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft intentionally impacted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in September

NASA

Daniel Fischer Mar 6

Direct detection of an asteroid’s heliocentric deflection - the Didymos system after DART: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aea4259 -> NASA’s #DART Mission Changed Orbit of #Asteroid #Didymos Around Sun: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/dart/nasas-dart-mission-changed-orbit-of-asteroid-didymos-around-sun/

Where are we now?Mar 5

2026-03-05 13:00:00 UTC (Delta: 2026-02-26)

WHERE IS HERA?
- Barycentric speed: 16.13 km/s (+0.15 km/s)
- Rendezvous with Didymos: November 2026

🪨 Relative to Didymos
- Distance (km): 9,808,048.18 km (-550,797.35 km)
- Distance (AU): 0.07 (-0.00)
- Light travel time: 0 min 32.72 s (-1.84 s)

🌎 Relative to Earth
- Distance (km): 311,182,495.28 km (-15,831,466.25 km)
- Distance (AU): 2.08 (-0.11)
- Light travel time: 17 min 18.02 s (-52.81 s)

#Hera #Didymos

Where are we now?Feb 26

2026-02-26 13:00:00 UTC (Delta: 2026-02-19)

WHERE IS HERA?
- Barycentric speed: 15.98 km/s (+0.14 km/s)
- Rendezvous with Didymos: November 2026

🪨 Relative to Didymos
- Distance (km): 10,358,845.68 km (-573,656.19 km)
- Distance (AU): 0.07 (-0.00)
- Light travel time: 0 min 34.55 s (-1.91 s)

🌎 Relative to Earth
- Distance (km): 327,013,961.52 km (-15,618,282.16 km)
- Distance (AU): 2.19 (-0.10)
- Light travel time: 18 min 10.83 s (-52.10 s)

#Hera #Didymos