Topics – Hera-JAPAN Project

2025-04-162025-04-18Research

Hera, Apophis T-4, and RAMSES in Tokyo 2025

An international conference on exploration and science related to planetary defense was held at the University of Tokyo from 7 to 11 April 2025. Following the Hera Community Meeting (7-8th), the Apophis T-4 Meeting (9-10th) and the RAMSES Community Meeting (11th) were held, where the latest developments in space science were discussed. https://www.hera-apophis-ramses-tokyo.org/en-us/ Participants at the Hera Community Meeting shared an overview of the latest status and operations of Hera and the status and observation results of its payloads following its Mars swing-by operation in March 2025. Additionally, payload updates such as AFC, HyperScout-H, TIRI, Milani CubeSat, and Juventas CubeSat were shared. Dr. Okada reported on the results of TIRI’s observations of Deimos and Mars during the Mars swing-by operation […]

2025-03-142025-03-14Operations

Hera completes a Mars swing-by !

On March 12, 2025, Hera performed a Mars swing-by that utilized the planet’s gravity to insert the spacecraft onto a trajectory towards the Didymos-Dimorphos binary asteroid system. Hera made its closest approach to Mars at 21:50 JST on March 12. ESA has confirmed that the spacecraft condition is normal and that the Hera spacecraft has been successfully inserted onto the intended trajectory. During the closest approach to Mars, the Hera spacecraft conducted observations of Mars and the Martian moon, Deimos, followed by the second Martian moon, Phobos, using three onboard cameras: the TIRI provided by JAXA, the visible light camera (Asteroid Framing Camera: AFC), and the visible and near-infrared spectroscopic camera (HyperScout-H). Here, we take a look at the images […]

2024-10-142025-01-23Operations

Hera captured its first images of Earth and the Moon successfully!

ESA’s asteroid explorer Hera has taken its first images using three of its instruments which will be used to observe and study the binary asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos. Following the successful launch on October 7, 2024, Hera’s onboard instruments were switched on, and initial checks were conducted. From October 10 to 11, the Hera asteroid deck (+Z face) which houses the spacecraft’s instruments was pointed towards Earth, and the instruments successfully captured their first images of Earth and the Moon from distance of 1.4 to1.6 million kilometers. Figure 1: Hera’s asteroid deck. B is the thermal infrared camera TIRI. (©ESA) Thermal Infrared Imager TIRI Hera’s thermal infrared Imager TIRI captured images of Earth and the Moon from approximately 1.4 million […]

2024-10-122025-01-23Launch

Behind the scenes of the launch event!

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 […]

2024-10-102025-01-23Launch

Hera successfully lifted off on its journey!!

Hera is a European Space Agency (ESA)-led mission to explore a binary asteroid, equipped with the Thermal InfraRed Imager (TIRI) developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Hera spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 7, 2024, at 23:52 JST from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. ESA have reported that the Hera spacecraft initial acquisition and solar array deployment have been completed, and confirmed that the spacecraft has been inserted into the intended trajectory. We would like to express our deep gratitude to everyone involved! Hera has now broken through the major barrier and set out for the binary asteroid, Didymos and Dimorphos. The team will work to deliver many results […]

2024-10-032024-10-03Development

Hera-JAPAN Flight Readiness Review accomplished!!

JAXA conducts a review by experts when reaching a project milestone to ensure that the developments are being carried out appropriately and whether it is OK to proceed to the next stage. The Hera-JAPAN Project Flight Readiness Review at JAXA, was held on September 17 to 30, 2024. The Review confirmed that the Japanese side’s preparations for launch were complete, and it was deemed appropriate to continue to the next phase (launch and initial operation phase). The TIRI development that began in 2019 has reached a turning point, and the launch of Hera space craft is finally approaching. The TIRI development team is now preparing for the initial checkout, which is scheduled for a few days after the launch. We […]

2024-01-19Development

TIRI PFM development completed!!

At the end of November 2023, the manufacturing and environmental testing of the protoflight model (PFM) of the thermal infrared imager (TIRI) was completed, marking the completion of the PFM development (Figure 1)! The PFM is covered by black MLI to install on the spacecraft system. The PFM was shipped to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Technology Research Center (ESTEC) in December, to replace the TIRI Engineering Model (EM) which is now mounted on the Hera spacecraft, and to participate in Hera system tests. Figure 1: Protoflight model (PFM) of thermal infrared imager TIRI. Similar to the EM shipment, a commemorative photo was taken with the members of the Meisei Electric TIRI development team, the Hera in-house project […]

2023-12-222024-10-03Online Open Campus

Online Open Campus 2023

At the JAXA Sagamihara Campus Online Open Campus 2023, held on November 4, 2023, we provided the latest updates on the Hera project. With less than a year remaining until launch, we shared the mission overview of Hera, the significance of TIRI, the scientific endeavors to be conducted with TIRI, and the current status of PFM development. We were delighted to have a large audience during the live broadcast, with many viewers leaving supportive comments such as: “I’ve never heard of the YORP effect before.” “Best of luck, we’re rooting for you!” We truly appreciate all the encouraging comments we received. You can also check out the program archive below. Please take a look! Presenter：Takuya Ishizaki (Hera-JP), Masanori Kanamaru (Hera-JP), […]

2023-05-302024-01-19Development

TIRI EM development completed!!

After manufacturing the engineering model (EM) of the Thermal Infrared Imager TIRI, we finished all environmental tests at the end of April 2023. And now, EM development has been completed! (Fig. 1) EM was handed over to the Hera spacecraft developer (OHB) through the European Space Agency (ESA) in early May, and is participating in the electrical test with the spacecraft system. Figure 1: Engineering model (EM) of Thermal Infrared Imager TIRI Before shipping the EM to Europe, we took a commemorative photo with the Meisei TIRI development team and the Hera JAPAN project team (Fig. 2). We realized that not only the people who helped us with the calibration test to understand the performance of TIRI, but also the […]

2022-11-292024-01-19Research

Avalanche on an asteroid !?

The DART spacecraft revealed that Didymos exhibits a top shape with a bulging equator. The results of numerical simulation using a supercomputer were presented regarding the formation process of the top shape, which can also be seen in the Ryugu explored by Hayabusa2 and the Bennu explored by NASA/OSIRIS-Rex. The results show that such shapes can be formed by avalanches occurring on asteroids. For more details, refer to the article below. ◆ISAS GATE◆ 【Avalanche on an asteroid!? What is the evolution of rubble-pile asteroids? – Avalanches, and the formation of top-shaped asteroids and rubble-pile satellites -】 https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/research-portal/gateway/2022/1125/ Shimaki, Hera JAPAN Nov. 29, 2022 【Avalanche on asteroid!? What is the evolution of rubble-pile asteroids? (Simulation movie) – Avalanches, and […]