SpaceX, ESA launch Hera spacecraft to study impact of NASA's DART mission

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft on Monday to see if a test NASA performed in 2022 to knock the moonlet off its orbit from an asteroid actually worked.

The launch of the SpaceX rocket was in doubt all morning because of thick clouds produced by a weather system associated with eastward-approaching Hurricane Milton. That system produced rain along the coast, but the clouds cleared enough for controllers to give a go for launch.

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