“赫拉”小行星撞击探测任务浅析

Analysis of the Asteroid Impact and Detection of ESA’s Hera Mission

“赫拉”(Hera)任务是由欧空局(ESA)主导并与美国国家航空航天局(NASA)合作开展的行星防御任务之一,通过对“双小行星重定向测试”(Double Asteroid Redirection Test,DART)任务撞击的“迪蒂莫斯”(Didymos)双星小行星系统开展近距离探测、物理特性表征及精确定轨等工作,从而实现撞击后小行星偏转评估、撞击坑产生和演化评估、撞击过程能量传递效率的评估,以此验证撞击防御的有效性并为后续合理有效的撞击防御方案设计提供重要的数据支撑。此外,任务通过撞击翻出的小行星表层以下物质的探测进一步研究太阳系早期小行星形成过程等科学问题。本文概述“赫拉”探测任务探测器设计、载荷配置、立方星设计、任务过程等工程实施特点,针对未来中国小行星防御技术的发展和规划提出思考和建议。

The Hera mission is one of the planetary defense missions led by the European Space Agency(ESA)in collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA).It involves conducting close-range exploration,physical characterization,and precise orbit determination of the Didymos binary asteroid system,which was impacted by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test(DART)mission.The objectives are to assess post-impact asteroid deflection,evaluate the creation and evolution of impact craters,and gauge the efficiency of energy transfer during the impact process.This will validate the effectiveness of impact defense and provide crucial data supportting for the design of subsequent reasonable and effective impact defense strategies.Additionally,by detecting subsurface materials of the asteroid exposed by the impact,the mission further investigates scientific questions such as the formation process of asteroids in the early solar system.This paper outlines the engineering implementation features of the Hera mission,including detector design,payload configuration,CubeSat design,and mission procedures.It also offers considerations and suggestions for the development and planning of future asteroid defense technologies in China.