Overview
- Earlier this week ESA said Hera moved into a close‑inspection phase and is operating about 25–30 kilometers from the Didymos–Dimorphos pair while returning new images.
- Early images taken from roughly 56 kilometers show Didymos’s sharp equatorial ridge and a partially hidden Dimorphos, giving the first view of surface features Hera will study in detail.
- Hera carries 25 instruments and will close to roughly 20 kilometers in the coming weeks to search for an impact crater, map ejecta distribution and measure changes caused by NASA’s 26 September 2022 DART collision.
- Two shoebox‑sized CubeSats, Juventas and Milani, will launch from Hera in January to perform radar probing, surface composition studies and attempted landings that aim to reveal Dimorphos’s internal structure and mass.
- Findings from Hera will quantify the momentum enhancement from ejected debris (the beta factor) and refine kinetic‑deflection models used to plan future planetary‑defense responses.