ESA's asteroid deflection spacecraft Hera undergoes pre-launch tests

On 26 September 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos, shifting its trajectory around its parent asteroid, Didymos. The mission was one half of a duo of spacecraft set to visit the binary asteroid system in an attempt to learn more about how we might protect our planet from asteroids, should one be heading our way. The follow-up mission called Hera, built by the European Space Agency, is due to launch in October 2024 and will investigate the collision’s aftermath using a suite of detectors and two CubeSats called Juventus and Milani. But before it can leave Earth, Hera will undergo a barrage of tests at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands to ensure it can service the rigors of launch and space. Heli Greus, is the product assurance and safety manager for the mission and her task is to oversee tests which include extreme noise and vibrations to simulate launch conditions, and a therm