THE EUROPEAN SPACE Agency’s first ever planetary-defence mission is finally ready to launch after 20 years of preparation – and it could be vital in saving the Earth from a dinosaur-scale total wipeout. 

The research project, which is tasked with tackling the threat of an asteroid crashing into Earth, is scheduled to travel into deep space between 7 and 26 October. 

It is part of a global planetary defence program and will be facilitated by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Hera, due to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida. 

Hoping to avoid a catastrophic collision, the vessel has been configured to gather critical new data and insights about how to deflect asteroids – and will showcase a hoard of new technologies in the process.

Belfast-based astronomer Professor Alan Fitzsimmons from the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen’s University formed part of the team behind the first planned rendezvous with a binary asteroid in the history of space research.

The professor likened an asteroid collision to a rare natural disaster. European Space Agency European Space Agency

In his words, the reason for the ground-breaking mission, “is the fact that the dinosaurs didn’t have a space program, so they couldn’t do anything when that asteroid was heading towards earth and hit it 66 million years ago. 

“Now we know that asteroids have hit us in the past and they’re going to hit us in the future”.

But the question still remains – what do we do when we find one hurtling towards Earth? 

Professor Fitzsimmons and his team are confident that their latest export will reveal the answer to that burning question.

He told The Journal: “We have several telescope systems that scan the skies every night, looking for new asteroids that may hit us in the future. 

“We’ve been planning missions like these for 20 years. We expect to gather the fundamental information that we need but at the same time, there are experimental technologies on board and we really want to see if they do the business.” 

While the success of the mission won’t depend on the new technologies, researchers have the opportunity to test software on board that will try to navigate the spacecraft itself by locking onto individual boulders on the surface of the asteroid, using those as place markers so it knows where it’s going. 

This will also be the first time radio links will be set up between three spacecraft orbiting an asteroid or moving alongside it. 

All in all, the mission will see three spacecraft carry 12 instruments in total that will investigate the asteroids at close range – Hera and two shoebox-sized spacecraft (CubeSats) who’ll be deployed from the main vessel at the asteroids. 

One of the CubeSats, Juventas, will carry the smallest radar instrument ever flown in space, which will perform the first radar sounding within a minor planet. 

The other CubeSat is called Milani and will capture the asteroids in a wider range of colours than the human eye can see. If all goes to plan, the Cubesats will land on an asteroid called Dimorphos at the end of their missions.

To date, astrophysicists have found over 35,000 ‘Near Earth Asteroids’. European Space Agency European Space Agency

How likely is it that an asteroid will hit Earth? 

According to the Northern Irish professor, Earth will be relatively safe for the next few hundred years as “with foreign asteroids, we know we’re not going to be hit by any dinosaur-killers in the near future, because the telescope surveys have found them all”.

However, as is the case with other types of natural disasters, there is still a chance localised damage could be done by smaller asteroids sitting one kilometre away from the planet. 

Professor Fitzsimmons explained: “What we’re looking at here is the smaller asteroids that we still haven’t found – we probably found less than a half of them at the moment – and if they hit us without warning, they would certainly wipe out a major city, in fact, a small country.” 

Likening an asteroid collision of this type to a rare volcanic eruption or earthquake, he warned it could hit at any time, anywhere. 

“The important thing is that we’re prepared to move those smaller asteroids. We now have the technology where we believe we could actually prevent a natural disaster from happening – something we couldn’t do with any of those other events.” 

European Space Agency European Space Agency

 A global response to a global problem

 To date, astrophysicists have found over 35,000 ‘Near Earth Asteroids’ and of these, 1,657 are large enough and pass close enough to be on a continuously monitored risk list. 

As the risk increases, the upcoming mission’s data collection will help inform international governments on an action plan. 

“All this occurs at an international level,” Professor Fitzsimmons elaborated. “So for example, when astronomers find a potential impactor, this would go through the United Nations and governments would be advised through that channel. 

“However, what we actually do depends on the warning we have. If we have years, then we can stage a planetary defence mission such as Hera but if we had much shorter warning, that would not be enough. 

“But we’d know where the asteroid was going to strike and we could instigate Civil Defence actions such as evacuations of the impact area.”

The exact day of the launch will not be confirmed until a few days before but the professor will be at ground control for the ESA Hera mission at the European Space Operations Centre in Germany during its lift-off.