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ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera
Joined June 2023
  • Tweets 296
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  • Followers 3,852
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ESA's Hera mission
@ESA_Hera
Jun 9
🛰️I'm currently speeding my way thru deep space to the Dimorphos🪨asteroid, the only Solar System body whose orbit has been shifted by human action - when NASA's DART spacecraft💥impacted it - to check what happened to it next! See where I am right now: whereis.space/hera/
The trajectory of the Hera spacecraft relative to the Dimorphos asteroid and the orbits of the inner planets

ALT The trajectory of the Hera spacecraft relative to the Dimorphos asteroid and the orbits of the inner planets

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6月11日、#COPUOS2026 にてサイドイベント “Planetary Defence in Action: Global Cooperation on #RAMSES”を開催しました！
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At tomorrow's @UNOOSA Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna, representatives of @JAXA_en, @ASI_spazio and @ESA come together for a breakfast panel to present Hera's sister mission Ramses
Flyer for Ramses breakfast panel

ALT Flyer for Ramses breakfast panel
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ESA's Hera mission retweeted
ESA Operations
@esaoperations
Jun 1
Saturday’s sonic boom heard over Boston was due to an airbursting meteor, as confirmed by US weather satellite GOES-19. A European geostationary weather sat performs a comparable skywatch, read more here: esa.int/Space_Safety/Firebal…
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Everything you wanted to know about asteroids but were afraid to ask... ! Hera Principal Investigator Patrick Michel has a new book out on planetary defence & asteroids - in 🇫🇷 - odilejacob.fr/catalogue/scie…
Book cover of La Défense planétaire contre les astéroïdes with an image of a body streaking towards Earth's surface

ALT Book cover of La Défense planétaire contre les astéroïdes with an image of a body streaking towards Earth's surface
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Congratulations to @NASA's @MissionToPsyche for their spectacular Mars flyby. The images brought back memories of our visit last year - asteroid missions like Mars; its gravity comes in handy for modifying course! esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/He…

Hera asteroid mission spies Mars’s Deimos moon

While performing yesterday’s flyby of Mars, ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence made the first use of its payload for scientific purposes beyond Earth and the Moon. Activating a trio of instru...

esa.int
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The international #HeraMission science community is meeting at Thessaloniki 🇬🇷 this week, preparing for Hera's arrival in 6 months time to the Dimorphos asteroid orbiting the larger Didymos, to see how it was transformed by the impact of @NASA's spacecraft back in 2022
A crowd of researchers outdoors posing for a photo

ALT A crowd of researchers outdoors posing for a photo
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Hera is part of ESA's Space Safety programme, protecting our planet, people & infrastructure from space hazards. 🚨Last call! 🚨On 16 June our Space Safety Industry Day at #ESTEC in 🇳🇱 shares how European industry can partner in our work - come join us! 👉 indico.esa.int/event/646/ove…
ESA's ESTEC technology centre seen from the air, among coastal sand dunes.

ALT ESA's ESTEC technology centre seen from the air, among coastal sand dunes.

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A successful deep-space manoeuvre has put ESA’s Hera spacecraft on course for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system later this year! At Didymos, Hera will help turn asteroid deflection into a reliable technique for protecting Earth 🛡️🌍 esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/He…
Stylised poster for the Hera mission depicting the Hera spacecraft, the two smaller CubeSats that it will deploy, and the two asteroids of the Didymos binary asteroid system.

ALT Stylised poster for the Hera mission depicting the Hera spacecraft, the two smaller CubeSats that it will deploy, and the two asteroids of the Didymos binary asteroid system.

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Surprising new study on @NASA's DART mission collision in 2022: not only did it change the orbit of the smaller Dimorphos asteroid, but it also shifted the solar orbit of its parent body Didymos. Hera's arrival this autumn will reveal more: nasa.gov/missions/dart/nasas…
View from the Italian Space Agency ASI's LICIACube CubeSat, which travelled along with NASA's DART mission to capture the spacecraft's collision with the Dimorphos asteroid. In this LICIACube image, taken moments after impact, debris fans out from the smaller asteroid towards its larger partner, Didymos.

ALT View from the Italian Space Agency ASI's LICIACube CubeSat, which travelled along with NASA's DART mission to capture the spacecraft's collision with the Dimorphos asteroid. In this LICIACube image, taken moments after impact, debris fans out from the smaller asteroid towards its larger partner, Didymos.

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ESA's Hera mission retweeted
European Space Agency
@esa
10 Dec 2025
#ESAhighlights 2025 is out now. 👀 Read our free ESA Highlights magazine, summarising a complete year of space activity in impactful images and in-depth articles. 📅 👇esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
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ESA's Hera mission retweeted
ESA Technology
@ESA_Tech
20 Oct 2025
Check out ESA's 50 milestone achievements during our first half century in our ESA Delivers brochure: esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…

ALT Looking through the pages of the ESA Delivers booklet
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One year ago #HeraMission was stranded on Earth, its launcher grounded, as a hurricane closed in on its launch site. 12 months later sees it cruising on the far side of the Sun. Learn the story of Hera in space: esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Video…

ALT Hera spacecraft cruising through deep space

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ESA's Hera mission retweeted
ESA Operations
@esaoperations
27 Aug 2025
ESA welcomes JAXA's interest in participating in the Ramses mission to the asteroid Apophis, which will make a safe but exceptionally rare and scientifically valuable flyby of Earth in April 2029. esa.int/Space_Safety/Planeta…

ESA and JAXA advance potential Apophis mission collaboration

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has requested funding to participate in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses).

esa.int
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ESA's Hera mission has spotted its first asteroids! Hera is on the way to the Didymos binary asteroid system to explore the aftermath of humankind's first attempt to move an asteroid. Though faint, these observations are very encouraging for the performance of Hera's camera.
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Hera's team @esaoperations used the spacecraft to observe two asteroids at short notice. This is a hot topic, as scientists discuss the possibility of using existing spacecraft to observe high-priority, deep-space objects like 2024 YR4 or 3I/ATLAS. Asteroid (1126) Otero 👇
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More information at: esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Fi… Asteroid (18805) Kellyday 👇
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ESA's Hera mission retweeted
ESA Operations
@esaoperations
3 Jul 2025
ESA's astronomers are actively tracking 3I/ATLAS, which is now the third confirmed interstellar comet to pass through our Solar System! More info at: esa.int/Space_Safety/Planeta…

ALT Greyscale GIF showing interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as a small white dot that remains in the centre of the image amidst a moving background of white stars

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