CNN —A European spacecraft and two shoebox-size satellites are about to launch to survey the aftermath from NASA’s DART mission, which intentionally slammed into an asteroid named Dimorphos and altered its orbit two years ago. The European Space Agency’s Hera mission is expected to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 10:52 a.m. The spacecraft and its two CubeSat companions are slated to arrive at the asteroid Dimorphos, and the larger asteroid it orbits named Didymos, in late 2026. NASA planned the DART, or Double Asteroid Redirection Test, mission to carry out a full-scale assessment of asteroid deflection technology on behalf of planetary defense. But many questions remain, including whether the DART spacecraft merely left behind a crater or if its momentum completely reshaped Dimorphos.

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Persons: NASA’s, Hera doesn’t, ”, Patrick Michel, Hera, Berthier, Santana, Ros, Petrescu, Micheli, Milani, Andrea Milani, Michel said, Dimorphos, Michel, DRACO, ” Michel Organizations: CNN, SpaceX, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, ESA, NASA, DART, National Centre for Scientific Research, Les, Italy’s University of Pisa, Science Locations: Florida, France, La Réunion, Dimorphos, Giza, Mars, Didymos