Tuesday, September 15
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Asteroid Hera poses a threat to Earth, NASA-ESA mega-deal to study how to divert it
The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA are joining forces for planetary defense, thanks to a €129.4 million contract for collaboration on the Hera mission scheduled for 2024, aimed at verifying the possibility of deflecting a potentially hazardous asteroid to Earth. Italy is among the seven partner countries in the mission, alongside Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Spain. Our country is contributing through the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and with the mission concept created by mathematician and astronomer Andrea Milani, one of the world's leading experts on asteroids, who passed away in 2018.