There’s a mystery out there in deep space – and solving it will make Earth safer. That’s why the European Space Agency’s Hera mission is taking shape – to go where DART has gone before and revisit the Great Pyramid-sized Dimorphos around its parent asteroid, the mountain-sized Didymos. By the end of Hera’s observations, Dimorphos will become the best studied asteroid in history – which is vital, because if a body of this size ever struck Earth it could destroy a whole city. The dinosaurs had no defence against asteroids, because they never had a space agency. But – through Hera – we are teaching ourselves what we can do to reduce this hazard and make space safer.
Coordination/ Mariana Barrosa Scientific Consultancy/ Ian Carnelli Artistic Direction/ Rui Braz Animation, 3D and Motion Graphics/ Rui Braz Text/ Sean Blair (EJR-Quartz) Voice/Greg Marston