Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

ESA's Hera Spacecraft Captures Rare Images of Mars and Deimos During Flyby

The gravity-assist maneuver brought Hera within 1,000 km of Deimos, providing unprecedented views of the moon's far side while en route to study asteroid Dimorphos.

Image
Hera caught the moon Deimos crossing Mars on March 12, 2025. The spacecraft used a flyby of Mars to boost it to its final destination, the asteroid Didymos. Her was about 1,000 km away from the moon Deimos as it took these images. Image via ESA/ JAXA.

Overview

  • On March 12, 2025, ESA's Hera spacecraft conducted a flyby of Mars and its moon Deimos, coming within 5,000 km of Mars and 1,000 km of Deimos.
  • Hera captured detailed images of the far side of Deimos, a tidally locked moon whose hidden side is rarely observed, using its advanced imaging instruments.
  • The flyby served as a gravity-assist maneuver to adjust Hera's trajectory toward its ultimate destination: the asteroid system Didymos and Dimorphos, which it is scheduled to reach in December 2026.
  • Hera's instruments, including the Hyperscout H hyperspectral imager and Thermal Infrared Imager, collected data on Deimos' surface composition and temperature, demonstrating their capabilities for future asteroid studies.
  • This mission builds on NASA's 2022 DART mission, which successfully altered Dimorphos' orbit, with Hera set to investigate the impact's aftermath and refine asteroid deflection techniques.