欧洲航天局 (ESA) 行星防御任务赫拉 (Hera) 已踏上为期两年的旅程

随着 10 月 7 日 Hera 航天器的发射，欧空局实现了其主要目标之一——组装一艘货车大小的航天器，然后快速发射。

The European Space Agency's (ESA) planetary defense mission, Hera, has embarked on its two-year journey. With the launch of the Hera spacecraft on Oct. 7, the ESA achieved one of its key objectives — putting together a spacecraft about the size of a van and then launching it with speed.

欧洲航天局（ESA）的行星防御任务“赫拉”已经开始了为期两年的旅程。随着 10 月 7 日 Hera 航天器的发射，欧空局实现了其主要目标之一——组装一艘货车大小的航天器，然后快速发射。

Another objective of the mission is to study the aftermath of NASA's 2022 DART mission, which successfully changed the trajectory of an asteroid through a direct impact.

该任务的另一个目标是研究 NASA 2022 DART 任务的后果，该任务通过直接撞击成功改变了小行星的轨道。

About 30,000 asteroids come relatively close to Earth, and one such space rock hits the planet every 10,000 years. Such an impact, according to Thales, would be equivalent to an explosion of around 50 megatons.

大约有 30,000 颗小行星距离地球相对较近，每 10,000 年就会有一颗这样的太空岩石撞击地球。根据泰勒斯的说法，这样的撞击相当于约 50 兆吨的爆炸。

“Hera is part of the international effort to answer the question: Could we do anything if we spotted one on a collision course?” wrote ESA on X (previously Twitter).

“赫拉是国际社会努力回答这个问题的一部分：如果我们在碰撞航线上发现了一架飞机，我们能做些什么吗？” ESA 在 X（以前是 Twitter）上写道。

Asteroids of mid-sizes, as per Thales, are the ones we should worry about as their impact on a populated area would be devastating. So, a close examination of the effects of DART's impact will enable Hera to refine asteroid deflection strategies for future planetary defense initiatives.

根据泰勒斯的说法，中等大小的小行星是我们应该担心的，因为它们对人口稠密地区的影响将是毁灭性的。因此，仔细研究 DART 的影响将使赫拉能够为未来的行星防御计划完善小行星偏转策略。

According to ESA scientists, the investigation of the crash site will help solve the mysteries not only of Dimorphos, which is the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza with a diameter of 495 feet, but also of Didymos, the larger asteroid it orbits. Didymos is the size of a mountain, with a diameter of 2,559 feet.

据欧空局科学家称，对坠机地点的调查不仅将有助于解开 Dimorphos（其大小与吉萨大金字塔直径 495 英尺）之谜，还有助于解开 Didymos（它所绕轨道运行的较大小行星）的谜团。 Didymos 有山那么大，直径为 2,559 英尺。

Additionally, Hera will help us understand our solar system by uncovering more information about its formation. This cube-shaped spacecraft will be the first to carry CubeSats to deep space, further enhancing its scientific capabilities.

此外，赫拉将通过揭示有关太阳系形成的更多信息来帮助我们了解太阳系。这艘立方体形状的航天器将是第一个将立方体卫星运送到深空的航天器，进一步增强其科学能力。

“Hera will provide valuable data for future asteroid deflection missions and science to help humanity's understanding of asteroid geophysics as well as solar system formation and evolutionary processes,” wrote SpaceX on X.

SpaceX 在 X 上写道：“赫拉将为未来的小行星偏转任务和科学提供有价值的数据，以帮助人类了解小行星地球物理学以及太阳系的形成和演化过程。”

Before Hera reaches the double-asteroid system in late 2026, which will take it 121 million miles (nearly 195 million kilometers) away from Earth, the spacecraft will swing by Mars in mid-March next year. This will provide Hera with the extra momentum needed to reach the asteroids.

赫拉号将于 2026 年末抵达双小行星系统，距离地球 1.21 亿英里（近 1.95 亿公里），在此之前，该航天器将于明年 3 月中旬掠过火星。这将为赫拉提供到达小行星所需的额外动力。

During the journey, Hera will fly within 3,728 miles of the Martian surface and, as such, will observe one of the red planet's two moons, named Deimos. The spacecraft will get data for the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe, which will be launched in the coming years to survey the moons and land a small rover on Phobos to collect samples for examination.

在旅途中，赫拉将在距火星表面 3,728 英里的范围内飞行，因此将观测这颗红色星球的两颗卫星之一，名为火卫二 (Deimos)。该航天器将为火星卫星探索（MMX）探测器获取数据，该探测器将在未来几年发射，用于勘测卫星，并将小型漫游车降落在火卫一上以收集样本进行检查。

Hera will then arrive in Didymos' orbit, where it will spend six weeks surveying both asteroids. Once it's done observing, the spacecraft will release two CubeSats with their own propulsion systems.

赫拉随后将抵达迪迪莫斯的轨道，在那里它将花费六周的时间对这两颗小行星进行勘测。一旦完成观测，航天器将释放两个带有自己的推进系统的立方体卫星。

One of the CubeSats is called Juventas, which is equipped with a radar instrument to peer deep beneath space rocks' surface. The other one is called Milani, a multispectral imager that maps dust and minerals on these asteroids. The CubeSats will use inter-satellite links to communicate with the spacecraft and then relay their findings back to Earth.

其中一颗立方体卫星被称为 Juventas，它配备了雷达仪器，可以探测太空岩石表面深处的情况。另一个被称为 Milani，这是一种多光谱成像仪，可以绘制这些小行星上的尘埃和矿物质的地图。立方体卫星将使用卫星间链路与航天器进行通信，然后将其发现结果传回地球。

Over a period of 10 weeks, Hera will conduct observations that will take it closer to the asteroid's surface, coming as close as 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) to it. In the end, Hera could land on Didymos, while the CubeSats could make similar attempts at landing on Dimorphos.

在 10 周的时间内，Hera 将进行观测，使其更接近小行星表面，最接近 0.6 英里（1 公里）。最终，赫拉可以降落在迪迪莫斯上，而立方体卫星可以做出类似的尝试降落在迪莫弗斯上。

With all the experience that ESA has and will acquire on Hera, it plans to use it for its next mission, Ramses. This way, if we ever detect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, such reconnaissance missions can be launched quickly to precisely determine their trajectory and rule out a false alarm.

凭借欧空局已经并将在赫拉上获得的所有经验，它计划将其用于下一个任务“拉美西斯”。这样，如果我们检测到一颗小行星与地球相撞，就可以快速启动此类侦察任务，以精确确定其轨迹并排除误报。

As part of Europe's planetary defense program, the Hera, with its two shoebox-size satellites, was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket.

作为欧洲行星防御计划的一部分，赫拉号及其两颗鞋盒大小的卫星由猎鹰 9 号火箭从 NASA 位于佛罗里达州的肯尼迪航天中心发射升空。

This rocket from Elon Musk's SpaceX is a reusable, two-stage, medium-lift launch vehicle that provides safe and reliable transport for people and payloads into Earth orbit. Defined by SpaceX as “the world's first orbital class reusable rocket,” this reusability allows the company to bring down the cost of accessing space.

埃隆·马斯克 (Elon Musk) 的 SpaceX 的这枚火箭是一种可重复使用的两级中型运载火箭，可为人员和有效载荷进入地球轨道提供安全可靠的运输。 SpaceX 将其定义为“世界上第一个轨道级可重复使用火箭”，这种可重复使用性使该公司能够降低进入太空的成本。

As per the official website, Falcon 9 has had 377 total launches, 333 total landings, and a total of 308 reflights so far.

根据官方网站，猎鹰 9 号迄今为止已累计发射 377 次，累计着陆 333 次，累计复飞 308 次。

For Europe's first planetary defense mission, Beyond Gravity also provided the essential components, including a central structural tube, solar wings, and electronic products, which are critical to the mission's success.

对于欧洲的首次行星防御任务，超越重力还提供了必要的组件，包括中央结构管、太阳翼和电子产品，这些对任务的成功至关重要。

“Changing an asteroid's trajectory is an important planetary defense technique for humanity if a large asteroid

“改变小行星的轨道对于人类来说是一项重要的行星防御技术，如果一颗大的小行星