ESA's Hera Successfully Deploys Solar Wing and Takes Flight

ESA's Hera asteroid mission, Europe's contribution to an international planetary defense experiment, has successfully tested the deployment of one of its two solar wings. The van-sized spacecraft, powered by solar array wings provided by Leonardo in Italy and Beyond Gravity in Switzerland, will perform a close-up survey of the crater left by the DART mission's impact on the Dimorphos asteroid. Hera will also measure the mass and composition of Dimorphos and its larger counterpart, Didymos. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in October 2024 and will reach its destination in just over two years.