Mars occurs light blue in this almost infrared image taken by the Hera space vessel. Its Moon Deimos is the dark mark toward the middle of the picture
ESA
A space exploration mission to study an asteroid that NASA deliberately crashed on a spacecraft in three years ago, has taken amazing bonus photos of Mars and its moon Deimos on his way to his final destination.
NASA’s double asteroid redirecting test (DART) in 2022 was an attempt to show that bodies on a collision with our planet cream are deliberately redirected to have catastrophic impact. Observations from Earth showed that by smashing the vessel, which had a mass of 580 kg by influence, in the distant asteroid dimorphos at 6.6 kilometers per second, NASA successfully changed the asteroid’s orbit. Dimorphos pose no risk to the soil and simply acted as a topic of testing.
Hera is a subsequent European Space Agency Mission designed to take a closer look at the effect of the crash. The craft is around the size of a small car, weight 1081 kg when it is full fuel. It was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, October 7, 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and made a fly town of Mars on March 12, 2025 on the way to the asteroid, as it will only reach until October 2026.
Deimos appear dark, framed by Mars
ESA
Hera came so close to 5000 kilometers to the surface of March and received a gravity that will throw it on to Dimorphos. The maneuver shortened his travel time with many months and saved that fuel.
While it was so close to Mars, it was also able to turn on a trio of sensors and take several detailed photographs of the planet and Deimos in the same frame. A black and white camera with a resolution of 1020 with 1020 pixels was used to capture the images as well as an infrared camra and a hyper -spectral image treatment that can sense a rage of colors beyond the bounds of the human eye.
Hera moved 9 kilometers compared to Second to Mars and was able to imagine the 12.4 kilometer long Deimos from only 1000 kilometers away. It can also photograph the side of the moon that is early locked away from March, which is less commonly captured.
Deimos shines very light than Mars in this shot caught by Heras Thermal Infrared Image Pictures
ESA/Jaxa
The original concept behind the Hera mission was that it should be present when Dart collided with Dimorphos, but delays in funding made it impossible. It now arrives several years after the impact.
The mission also carries two miniature satellites or dice, called Juventas and Milani. Instead of circling dimorphos, these will fly in front of it, making sweeping passports on gradually less and more risky distances to collect data. Both are expected that this country on the asteroid to look at and they have done everything they can at a distance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu31-crtr9s
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