The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission has made history by capturing stunning images of Mars and its smallest moon, Deimos, during a flyby on March 12. The spacecraft, which is en route to study an asteroid in the Didymos binary system, successfully executed a gravity assist maneuver that propelled it toward its target.
The historic images, taken from approximately 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) away from Deimos, mark the first scientific use of Hera’s instruments beyond Earth-Moon orbits. The photos were captured during a flyby from the far side of Deimos, revealing the moon’s unique characteristics, including its tidally locked rotation.
Deimos orbits Mars every 30.3 hours at a higher altitude than the planet’s other moon, Phobos. Unlike Phobos, which is spiraling toward Mars, Deimos slowly drifts away from the planet. Discovered in 1877 by astronomer Asaph Hall, Deimos is about 12.4 kilometers across and thought to be either a leftover of a giant impact or a captured asteroid.
The successful flyby provides valuable data for planning the upcoming Martian Moon eXploration Mission (MMX), set to launch in 2026. The mission aims to measure both Martian moons and land on Phobos to collect a sample. Hera’s arrival at Didymos in December 2026 will mark its next significant milestone, allowing scientists to precisely measure the effects of the DART spacecraft’s deflection maneuver.
“We’ve had our first exciting experience of exploration, but not our last,” said Ian Carnelli, mission manager for the Hera mission. The team is eager to reach their target asteroids and conduct a crash site investigation of the asteroid that was altered by human action.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2025/03/13/in-photos-mars-and-its-city-sized-moon-seen-in-historic-flyby