This black and white image was taken by the frame of Hera asteroids. This camera will be used to keep track of the dwelling through the space and once you reach the destination, the impact crater left by the double redirection test of the NASA asteroids will immigrate. Credit: ESA
Hera, a planetary defense mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) which was launched in October 2024, took images of Mars and Deimos, one of his two moons yesterday. The flyby of the mission was used as gravity assistance for its final destination at the Binary System of the Asteroids of Dreamedphos and Didymos. The mission also used this journey beyond Mars as an opportunity to test some of its scientific equipment.
Deimos is the smallest and least photographed of the moons of Mars. This egg -shaped object, which measures only about 7.7 miles in diameter (12.4 kilometers), is blocked with the red planet that often makes it difficult to get images from the earth.
The mission used three of its instruments while arrived within 621 miles (1,000 km) from Deimos while hovering on the region of Mars of Martes of Mars. Hera has used her frame of framing of black and white asteroids (above) which is used for both navigation and scientific purposes. This camera is used to indicate which characteristics appear in visible light. In the image, Deimos appears dark compared to the red planet. This is because its surface is composed of carbonate regolite that does not easily reflect light.
During trekking, Hera also used her hyperspectral imager to capture the surface of Mars and Deimos in 25 visible spectral bands and the nearby infrared. This image gives a better sense of the mineral makeup of an object.
With her thermal infrared imagers, Hera triggered an image that shows the significantly warmer surface of Deimos against Mars under it. This moon lacks an atmosphere and is aimed at the sun in the image. Hera’s thermal image also collects quality such as the surface temperature, as well as the size of the particles, the porosity and roughness.
Hera has a total of 12 useful loads on board, as well as two cubesat that it will not release until it reaches Dreamedphos and Didymos in December 2026. When it arrives at the asteroids, it will study the impacts of the double collision of the redirection tests of NASA conducted conducted on Dreamedphos in 2022.
This imaging in Moscow was not only supporting Hera’s mission, but will also help other future efforts. This includes the Martian Moons Exploration Mission (MMX) led by the Japanese aerospace exploration agency together with several other agencies including NASA and ESA. This mission will collect the data from Deimos and the other moon of Mars, Phobos, where it will eventually land and collect champions to bring back to Earth. The mission is scheduled for a 2026 launch.
