ESA's Hera spacecraft has just arrived at the Didymos asteroid system to investigate what happened after NASA's DART mission famously crashed into the tiny moonlet Dimorphos in 2022.
This is a big deal for space safety, since Hera will help scientists see if smashing spacecraft into asteroids could actually work to protect Earth.
Hera gathers Dimorphos impact data
Right now, Hera is maintaining a distance of about 25 to 30km from Didymos and is busy gathering close-up data on how Dimorphos changed after the impact, such as its new shape and where all the debris went.
The findings could be a game-changer for future planetary defense, showing if this strategy can really keep us safe from rogue asteroids.