From Hera to RAMSES: ESA planetary defense missions and international cooperation

Dr. Patrick Michel
CNRS, Côte d'Azur Observatory, Lagrange Laboratory, Nice, France

The Hera mission of the European Space Agency was launched successfully on October 7, 2024, to the binary asteroid Didymos and will contribute to the first asteroid deflection test within the international cooperation called AIDA (Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment) supporting the NASA DART and ESA Hera missions. It is now developing the RAMSES mission to the asteroid Apophis that will come very close to the Earth on Friday April 13, 2029, which final approval will take place at the ESA Council at Ministerial Level in 2025. Both missions are occurring in the framework of an international cooperation that is at the heart of planetary defense, with contribution by JAXA. I will recall the objectives of planetary defense, in particular the need to characterize small near-Earth asteroids from space, to which the Hayabusa, Hayabusa2 and Hayabusa2# mission contribute greatly, and present the Hera mission, its goals and next milestones, as well as the RAMSES one.

Conference Hall (2nd floor/ Research and Administration Building A),　Via Zoom