Structure of Juventas and GRASS
1:1 scale model
The Juventas CubeSat is part of ESA's Hera planetary defence mission, scheduled for launch in 2024. This shoebox-sized nanosatellite (30 x 20 x 10 cm) is built by GomSpace and will contain the GRASS instrument, developed by the Royal Observatory of Belgium in collaboration with EMXYS (Spain).
GRASS will measure the gravity field of the asteroid Dimorphos, which itself orbits the asteroid Didymos. The estimated gravity on Dimorphos is tiny: about one million times smaller than on Earth.
With the data that GRASS will collect, we will learn more about the internal structure of the asteroid and thus better determine how to deflect dangerous asteroids to protect the Earth.
Royal Observatory of Belgium (KSB-ORB)
