Scientists from Atos engage in HERA mission to preserve the planet from asteroid collision
December 02 2020 - 4:00AM
Scientists from Atos engage in HERA mission to preserve the planet
from asteroid collision
Bucharest, Romania and Paris, France –
December 2, 2020 – Atos today announces that a team of digital
transformation experts from Atos Romania are taking part in HERA,
the first planetary defense mission of the European Space Agency
(ESA) in collaboration with NASA, which aims to determine how
asteroids can be deflected so that they do not hit Earth.
HERA is unprecedented in its scientific and
technical objectives and will bring the first building blocks of a
planetary protection capability. It aims to determine whether the
maneuver of diverting a dangerous asteroid from its collision
course with Earth is the appropriate strategy to deploy to prevent
a real threat and will launch a deflection test to find out.
During the HERA mission, a team of scientists
and experts from Atos in Romania will test the data
manipulation systems on board of the space probe during the
assembly procedures and integration and verification steps. They
will also support flight software development, the loading and
execution monitoring interfaces, as well as the diagnostic
interfaces for the flight processor. The multi-disciplinary team
includes Atos experts in design, development, validation and
integration of software and hardware solutions, especially in the
areas of radio frequencies and power circuits.
"The HERA mission is a major step in protecting
our planet, and Romania will contribute decisively to the global
defense effort. This mission represents an important progress in
developing the capacity of the national industry to take part in
deep-space missions. Through this expedition to a binary system of
asteroids, as well as the experimental route deviation of one of
them and the careful observation of the result, space exploration
is reaching a new milestone in human history", said Marius-Ioan
Piso, President of the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA).
"The Atos team from Brașov has been working for
several years together with ESA to carry out various space missions
and contribute to the evolution of mission planning and control
systems. However, this is the first time we are taking part in a
"Planetary Defense" mission which brings us new technical
challenges, but also the satisfaction that we can do our part to
save the planet in addition to our efforts in digitization and
decarbonization. We are well aware that there is no Planet B", said
Günther Lackner, VP, GM & Global Head of BU Space &
Avionics at Atos.
Atos Romania is a key competency center for Atos
Space global solutions, a trusted partner in the journey to Space.
Atos in Romania has extensive experience in the fields of Electric
Ground Support Equipment (EGSE), Mission Control Systems (MCS),
Ground Stations (GS) and Federated Identity Management (FIM). EGSE
activities carried out by Atos in Romania include the validation of
radio-frequency, satellite communications components, verification
of space shuttle instruments and data flows, simulation of
communications with ground stations, verification and electrical
systems (solar panels, batteries, etc.), central coordination
systems for verification and control instruments.
Specialists from Atos in Romania have already
contributed to various other significant ESA & non-ESA
missions, such as Euclid, Juice, Proba-3, MetOpSG, Plato, Sentinel
5 & 6 and OneWeb.
More information about Atos’ solutions for space
& avionics :
https://atos.net/en/solutions/aerospace-defense-electronics
***
More information on HERA
The HERA mission is part of the international
AIDA (Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment) program,
developed in collaboration with NASA, responsible for conducting
the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) space test. There are
two steps in the mission:
- In July next year, the DART satellite will be launched and
directed to hit the Didymoon asteroid (165m diameter), a natural
satellite of the larger asteroid Didymos (775m diameter)which
represents a potential risk to Earth. Experts estimate that DART
will hit the asteroid in September 2022.
- In October 2024, 3 HERA satellites will be launched to analyze
the "crime scene”. They should arrive near Didymoon in January 2027
to collect and analyze important data which will help scientists
better understand the composition and structure of asteroids and to
develop new technologies and methods to deviate them.
About Atos
Atos is a global leader in digital
transformation with 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual
revenue of € 12 billion. European number one in Cloud,
Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides
end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business
Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. The Group is the
Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic &
Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos|Syntel,
and Unify. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40
Paris stock index.The purpose of Atos is to help design the future
of the information space. Its expertise and services support the
development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural
approach and contribute to the development of scientific and
technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its
customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live,
work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information
space.
Atos Press Contacts
Global: Lucie Duchateau –
lucie.duchateau@atos.net - +33 7 62 85 35 10Romania: Amira Ciobotea
- amira-dana.ciobotea@atos.net - +00 (40) 757574214
- PR - Scientists from Atos engage in HERA mission to preserve
the planet from asteroid collision
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