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. Hera was about 620 miles (1,000 km) away from the moon Deimos as it took these images. See more Mars and Deimos pics below. Image via ESA/ JAXA.
New Mars and Deimos pics from revealing Hera flyby
The Hera spacecraft is on its way to the asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos. But to get there, it first needed to swing by Mars for a gravity assist. On March 12, 2025, Hera sailed past the red planet, capturing images of it and one of its lumpy moons, Deimos. Hera came within 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of Mars and 620 miles (1,000 km) of Deimos. And although Hera zipped by at 20,000 mph (9 km/s) relative to Mars, it still managed to acquire excellent images of the red planet and its little moon.
Hera follows the wildly successful DART mission that struck and moved an asteroid in 2022. Hera will investigate the aftermath of the first time humanity has hit and moved an asteroid. It should arrive at Didymos and Dimorphos in about two years, thanks to the months it shaved off its travel time by visiting Mars.
Images from Hera
ESA’s Hera science team celebrates the new images of Mars and Deimos. At lower left is astrophysicist, stereoscopist and guitarist Sir Brian May. Principal Investigator Patrick Michel is at lower right. Image via Max Alexander/ ESA.This near-infrared view from Hera shows Mars in a blue hue. The lumpy moon in front is Deimos. The Martian features in this image include Terra Sabaea (bright white), the Huygens crater to the right and above the moon, and the Hellas Basin to the lower right. The Hellas Basin is among the largest known impact craters in the solar system. Explore Martian features in depth here. Image via ESA.Here’s a look at Deimos’s “dark” side. The moon is tidally locked with Mars, so from the surface of Mars and from most of the spacecraft exploring Mars, we only get to see the near side. Thus, this view from Hera gives us a peek at the hidden side. Image via ESA.Hera’s Thermal Infrared Imager captured Mars and the moon Deimos. In visible light, Deimos is much darker. But in infrared, Deimos shines bright. That’s because, in this image, the sun is shining on Deimos and Mars. And Deimos doesn’t have an atmosphere, so it heats up more than Mars. Image via ESA/ JAXA.
Bottom line: The Hera spacecraft is on its way to investigate the aftermath of when DART hit and struck the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos. But first it flew past Mars for a gravity assist. See the new Mars and Deimos pics it captured here.
Via ESA
Read more: Watch as Mars’ moons trade places in the sky
Kelly Kizer Whitt
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About the Author:
Kelly Kizer Whitt – EarthSky’s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube – writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.
