On October 9, 2024, 10:52 UTC (23:52 JST Japan time), the Hera spacecraft was launched from the US Cape Canaveral Space Force Station onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. In this report, I will introduce the details of the Hera launch event sponsored by ESA.
Since TIRI is a cold launch (launch with the power off), Hera-Japan will not conduct any operations immediately after the launch. TIRI is scheduled to begin its initial operations three days after the launch, and after the instruments are turned on and it is confirmed that it is operating as expected, it will immediately begin imaging Earth and the Moon as it departs.
In the morning of the day before the launch (October 6, local time), a Hera science meeting was held at a hotel in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where it was raining lightly. The Hera science working group (WG) consists of four sub-WGs (WG1: Impact Modeling, WG2: Ground Based Observations, WG3: Dynamics, WG4: Data analysis, exploitation, interpretation), and each WG briefly reported the latest study status. When the question “What do you think the result of the DART collision?” was asked at a live survey in the Impact Modeling WG, many people answered “Dimorphos has disappeared!”.
Figure 1: The Hera science Meeting
In the afternoon, a pre-launch event was held including industry and media. Ian Carnelli, Project Manager for the ESA Hera mission, reported that preparations for Falcon 9 were going well and everything is ready except for the weather. In addition, there were reports from the small celestial body exploration project Don Quijote, which was conducted by ESA from 2005 to 2007, the results of DART, which was implemented in the United States as part of the AIDA project, and the CubeSat development. What particularly impressed me was learning how the industry side did not understand the science at first, but through repeated communications they deepened their mutual understanding and became a good team.
SpaceX announced the day before the launch that there was a 15% chance that the weather conditions would allow the launch to proceed as scheduled.
Figure 2: Ian Project Manager (left) and participants (right) at Hera Pre-Launch Briefing
It was raining heavily in the morning of the launch. Hurricane Milton, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico, was approaching the Florida peninsula over the weekend. We arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, passed through the security gates. and then got on the bus to the Banana Creek Observation Center. Two hours before the launch it was still raining lightly so attendees entered the attached exhibit facility to view the Saturn V and Apollo spacecraft from the 1960s. The sky gradually became brighter, and the rain and wind began to ease. Even among Hera-JAPAN members, expectations were high for the launch.
Figure 3: (Left) Before launch, the rain and wind were pounding. (Right) The weather had improved an hour before launch.
I participated in the live launch broadcast on ISAS Sagamihara Channel, which was late at night Japan time, via Zoom and reported on the on-site situation. In the viewing area, explanations were provided by launch commentators on a giant screen which SpaceX’s Youtube broadcast was displayed. The Falcon 9 would be launched from Pad 40. It was about 10km from the Banana Creek Observation Center where we were. So that the 70m tall Falcon 9 looked like sized grain of rice with our naked eyes. While at the countdown on Youtube progressed, I was watching the Falcon 9 with binoculars, and just when I heard the countdown was 10 seconds away, white smoke rose from the base of the rocket. The rocket rose straight up and was sucked into the clouds in about 30 seconds. After that, a slow roar from the rocket echoed throughout the venue, lasting for about two minutes. When MaxQ and MECO were confirmed on SpaceX’s Youtube broadcast, the venue was enveloped by cheers.
Figure 4: Falcon 9 rocket ascending (bright spot on the left of the screen)
Hera science team members hugged each other and thanked each other for their hard work. Prof. Okada, Hera-JAPAN team leader, celebrated the successful launch as the equipment PI and we shred the joy with various overseas researchers. I reported the circumstances of the site and our future aspirations on the ISAS Sagamihara Channel’s live launch broadcast as well.
Figure 5: Circumstances of the site right after launch
There was a celebration party at KSC’s Atlantis exhibition hall, where a slide show describing the timeline of Hera from development to launch was shown. Finally, Project Manager Ian Carnelli thanked everyone involved in the mission, including science, industry, space agencies, and suppliers. I learned that in order to lead a mission to success, it is important to communicate with people outside your area of expertise, deepen mutual understanding, and get the team moving to the same direction. I would like to keep promoting planetary defense and international cooperation.
Figure 6: at the celebration party
Yuri Shimaki,
Hera-JAPAN
Oct. 9, 2024