ESA seeks name for Hera mission dinosaur mascot

The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a public contest to name the mascot for its Hera mission, a planetary defense initiative. The mascot is a cartoon dinosaur, a choice intended to reference the historical link between asteroid impacts and the extinction of dinosaurs.

The Hera spacecraft is currently en route to the asteroid Dimorphos to conduct a detailed survey of the impact site created by NASA’s DART mission in September 2022. The mascot, which was created by the Portuguese company Science Office, is featured in mission animations, LEGO models, and is even present aboard the spacecraft.

The naming competition is open to citizens of ESA Member States, Participating States, and Associate States. The winner, selected by a jury, will be invited to Berlin on November 25 to attend the presentation of the first images captured by Hera after reaching the asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos.