Liftoff! Hera launches to Mars
Falcon 9 second stage engine bell looking at the Earth. Credit: SpaceX
At 14:52 UTC on the 7th of October 2024, Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying Hera as its payload.
If you haven’t read our article on Hera’s mission details, then read here: Hera - Mission details
The flight
Falcon 9 carrying Hera lifting off from pad. Credit: SpaceX
You might notice something funny in this image. Yes, that’s right, the booster has no legs! Booster 1061 was the chosen booster for today’s flight, and unfortunately it had its legs stripped, which could only mean one thing, expended.
Booster 1061 rocketed up to 79km at 10100km/h where it then separated from the second stage. This was the last time it was seen! You will be missed
Falcon 9 Booster 1061 separating from second stage. Credit: SpaceX
A list of all missions flown by 1061:
2 Crew Dragons
1 Cargo Dragon
1 GEO satellite
2 Molniya satellites
NASA's IXPE
ESA's Hera 1 Globalstar satellite
4 Starshield satellites
4 Earth Observation satellites
130 small rideshares
350 Starlinks
This equates to 213,000kg of mass.
Credit: Lukas C. H.
Second stage performance
The Falcon 9 Second stage has been under scrutiny recently since its RUD on July 11th, Starlink Group 9-3 mission. It then had an anomaly where it missed its re-entry target after putting Crew-9 into orbit. Since the re-entry anomaly, Falcon 9 has been grounded. Hera was an exception since it didn’t require a re-entry burn.
But we are happy to report the second stage performed amazingly, putting Hera into the exact trajectory required!
Second stage trajectory carrying Hera. Credit: SpaceX
Post launch
At T+01:16:08 Hera separated from the second stage, marking its two-year journey to Dimorphos!
Second stage separating from Hera. Credit: SpaceX
Where is it heading?
Hera will take 2 years to reach Dimorphos. I hear you. Why so long Horashio?
DART made it to Dimorphos in a year. But the difference is DART crashed into it. It was practically a flyby, but its flyby was into its surface.
Hera is going there to stay, meaning it needs a lower encounter velocity so it can get into orbit around Dimorphos.
This is why Hera is flying off to Mars! That’s right, my title wasn’t clickbait. This is why Hera is doing a flyby of Mars, to change its orbit so it can reduce its encounter velocity. So it doesn’t recreate what DART did in 2021!
It will reach Mars by February 2025. Then Dimorphos February 2026.
A surprise
One hour after the live stream had finished, SpaceX shared this photo:
I’ll finish my article with these words:
Wow.
