Hera (ESA) is the European part of the international Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration with NASA which is responsible for the kinetic impacting spacecraft DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test). Both missions have been designed to be mutually independent, however their value increases when combined together. DART will be launched in 2021 and will impact Didymoon in September 2022. Hera will be launched in October 2024 and will arrive in Didymos in January 2027. A first phase of characterization of Didymos (between 20 and 30 km away) will aim to determine its shape and the gravitational field.

The detailed characterization phase will be conducted from a distance of approximately 10-20 km. During this phase two CubeSats will be released from the HERA mothership, enhancing the scientific return of the HERA mission. The first CubeSat, “Juventas”, will be equipped with low frequency monostatic radar and accelerometers. The second Cubesat “Milani” will carry the ASPECT visual and near-IR imaging spectrometer and the VISTA thermogravimeter (Volatile In-Situ Thermogravimeter Analyzer). The “Milani” cubsat is developed by Tyvak International, selected by ESA as Prime Contractor of a consortium of over 10 entities involved in the entire development of the mission. Among these, CNR-IIA is supporting the development of the VISTA payload by supplying the sensors and proximity electronics of the instrument. VISTA, is a micro-thermogravimeter (5 cm3), developed in close collaboration with INAF-IAPS (VISTA principal investigator) and Politecnico di Milano, dedicated to monitoring contamination (micro-dust, volatile, organic light) to support the other on-board instruments .

This project will pave the way for future participation in projects, oriented towards planetary exploration, which will require sensors and technologies developed at CNR-IIA.