Four years ago, NASA punched an asteroid. Europe's Hera probe arrives this month to inspect the wreckage
The European Space Agency's Hera probe is arriving at the Dimorphos asteroid to inspect the impact site created by NASA's DART mission four years ago. The mission aims to gather data on the effectiveness of planetary defense strategies against potential asteroid threats.
Why it matters
Understanding the results of the DART collision is essential for developing reliable methods to protect Earth from future asteroid impacts.
Missions Asteroid & Comet Missions Four years ago, NASA punched an asteroid. Europe's Hera probe arrives this month to inspect the wreckage News By Meghan Bartels Published 14 October 2026 Scientists can't wait to explore the crash site of NASA's first planetary defense mission.
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Click for next article An illustration of ESA's Hera asteroid probe arriving at the Dimorphos-Didymos system. (Image credit: ESA) Copy link Facebook X Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter NASA's DART mission made a cosmic mess four years ago - and now a new spacecraft is ready to scout out exactly what the first-of-its-kind collision accomplished.
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