Ever daydreamed about owning your own spaceship? As the next best thing – thanks to a free app launching today – anyone with an Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3 or 3S VR headset can have ESA’s Hera asteroid mission for planetary defence turn up in their own living room.
Developed by Italian startup DIVE in cooperation with ESA’s Hera mission team, the “Guardians of Earth” app allows users to peer within a virtual spacecraft, learn about how it works, assemble its elements and follow its journey through space to its target asteroid.
“The availability of this app makes for a great Christmas gift, allowing people to learn about and interact with our mission in a totally new and immersive way,” notes Hera mission manager Ian Carnelli. “This was a dream…