Overview
- The Hera spacecraft obtained the first image that clearly shows Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos as two separate objects on Oct. 18 while about 1,280 kilometers from the pair.
- Mission controllers slowed Hera with two early-October thruster burns to cut its relative speed to roughly 20 meters per second and allow a controlled approach.
- Hera will carry out a detailed crash-site investigation, deploy two shoebox-sized CubeSats for closer observations and attempt landings to collect surface, mass and interior data.
- NASA's DART struck Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022, at about 6.1 kilometers per second and shortened its orbital period by roughly 33 minutes, an outcome that exceeded many models.
- The team plans to release the first high-resolution images of Dimorphos on Nov. 25, 2026, and expects Hera's measurements through 2027 to improve kinetic-deflection models for planetary defense.