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The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched Hera, its first planetary defence mission designed to assess whether future asteroids can be deflected from a collision course with Earth.

The probe, which is about the size of a small car, is on its way to a pair of asteroids 195 million kilometres away from Earth, one of which NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into two years ago.

It is ESA’s part of a collaboration with NASA to develop future technologies to protect the Earth from a catastrophic asteroid impact.

“The risk of an asteroid hitting our planet affects everyone everywhere, making planetary defence an inherently international endeavour,” said Josef Aschbacher, director general of ESA.

In September 2022, NASA’s DART mission deliberately crashed into the 151m-wide asteroid Dimorphos.

Its goal was to see if smashing a vending machine-sized space probe into an asteroid could nudge it enough to deflect it from a direct hit with Earth.

Read more on this:
Why NASA crashed a spacecraft into a harmless asteroid

Dimorphos is a moon of a larger asteroid, Didymos – the binary asteroid chosen as a target.

It was thought the smaller asteroid would remain in its parent’s gravitational pull, eliminating the risk of a future collision with Earth even if the prang with DART proved unpredictable.

Observations of the DART impact revealed it shifted Dimorphos’s orbit around Didymos by around 32 minutes – 26 times greater than the minimum deflection predicted by NASA scientists.

An image from ATLAS Project (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) in Hawaii which appears to show Dart's final moments as it impacted with Dimorphos. Pic: ATLAS Project
Image:
This image appeared to show DART’s final moments as it impacted with Dimorphos. Pic: ATLAS Project

Hera is designed to provide a detailed post-match analysis of the DART-Dimorphos encounter so it can be developed into a strategy for planetary defence.

As well as studying Dimorphos and Didymos in detail using 11 on-board instruments, it will deploy two micro-satellites that will go into orbit around the asteroid system.

Their missions will end with the two probes landing on Dimorphos’s rubble-like surface, hopefully providing new details about its composition.

“Hera will gather the data we need to turn kinetic impact into a well understood and repeatable technique on which all of us may rely on one day,” said Mr Aschbacher.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying the European Space Agency Hera spacecraft on a mission to the asteroid Dimorphos.
Pic Reuters
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying the Hera spacecraft. Pic: Reuters

While most of us think of civilisation-ending asteroid impacts as the stuff of Hollywood movies, they remain a genuine, albeit low, risk.

Over our 4.5 billion year history, Earth has suffered more than three million impacts from various bits of space rock.

Perhaps the most famous was the impact 66 million years ago of a 180km-wide asteroid in what is now Chicxulub, Mexico.

The resulting planetary-scale extinction event helped consign dinosaurs to the natural history books.

Undated handout photo issued by the European Southern Observatory of an artist's illustration showing the ejection of a cloud of debris after NASA's DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos. Astronomers have observed the aftermath of the collision involving a spacecraft sent by Nasa to crash into an asteroid. The controlled impact was a test of planetary defence, but also gave astronomers a chance to learn more about the Dimorphos asteroid by examining the material expelled. Issue da
Image:
An artist’s illustration of the collision between NASA’s DART spacecraft and the asteroid Dimorphos. Pic: ESA

Things have now quietened down a bit, but just last week an asteroid missed Earth by about one million kilometres – less than three times the distance to the Moon – very close by astronomical standards.

Asteroid 2024 ON was 350m across, not a “planet-killer” but large enough to destroy an entire country and lead to catastrophic global climate impacts.

The concerning thing was that it was spotted less than two months ago – leaving little time to do anything to prevent an impact, if it was heading right for us.

That’s all the more reason for missions like Hera and DART to learn as much as possible about the nature of the asteroid threat, as well as how to defend against it.

Hera will swing by Mars in 2025 to help propel it towards its destination. It’s due to arrive at Didymos and Dimorphos in October 2026.

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Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv – as commander ‘sacked for lying about war progress’

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Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv - as commander 'sacked for lying about war progress'

Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.

Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.

Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.

Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.

“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.

“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”

Russia did not comment on the attack.

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It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.

While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.

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Russian war bloggers have long complained that units there are poorly supported and thrown into deadly battles for little tactical gain.

Russia’s ministry of defence has not commented on the reports.

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Russian forces capture ‘former British soldier’ fighting for Ukraine – reports

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Russian forces capture 'former British soldier' fighting for Ukraine - reports

Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.

In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.

He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.

He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”

He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.

“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.

“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”

In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.

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He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”

Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.

The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.

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Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’

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Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE - as Israeli PM says he was murdered in 'antisemitic terror incident'

The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been found, Israel has said.

Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE, went missing on Thursday.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office on Sunday said the 28-year-old rabbi was murdered, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident”.

“The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death,” it said.

On Saturday, Israeli intelligence agency Mossad said it was investigating the disappearance as suspicions arose that he had been kidnapped.

The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that Mr Kogan had been found dead. Its interior ministry has described the rabbi as being “missing and out of contact”.

“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the interior ministry said.

Mr Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters.

The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.

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Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement and remain in secure areas.

The rabbi’s disappearance comes as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October.

While the Israeli statement on Mr Kogan did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE.

The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners have been set up for the burgeoning Jewish community but the unrest in the Middle East has sparked deep anger in the country.

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