Piluca Caballo and Gerhard Paar presented their work on the 3D GIS (Geographical Information System) of the European mission Hera to the double asteroid system Didymos 2026/27 to around 150 participants last week at the Hera International Workshop at the ESA Technology Centre ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
The Hera 3D GIS is being developed in Austria by JOANNEUM RESEARCH together with VRVis (Vienna) and represents the central component for the selection and 3D visualisation of the Hera camera images and 3D data products, which can be used to understand the controlled impact of the American DART probe on the asteroid moon Dimorphos in September 2022, the measurement and characterisation of the resulting crater and the recording planning for the probe's instruments during its approach phase of several months in a three-dimensional context. Hera serves to develop and refine possible strategies for defence against catastrophic meteorite impacts on Earth.
