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On\u00a0 Wednesday 12 March 2025 ESA\u2019s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence performs a flyby of Mars. The gravity of the red planet shifts the spacecraft\u2019s trajectory towards its final destination of the Didymos binary asteroid system, shortening its trip by months and saving substantial fuel.<\/p>\n
Watch the livestream release of images from Hera\u2019s flyby by the mission\u2019s science team on Thursday 13 March, starting at 11:50 CET!<\/p>\n
Hera comes to around 5000 km from the surface of Mars during its flyby. It will also image Deimos, the smaller of Mars\u2019s two moons, from a minimum 1000 km away (while venturing as close as 300 km). Hera will also image Mars\u2019s larger moon Phobos as it begins to move away from Mars.<\/p>\n
Launched on 7 October 2024, Hera on its way to visit the first asteroid to have had its orbit altered by human action. By gathering close-up data about the Dimorphos asteroid, which was impacted by NASA\u2019s DART spacecraft in 2022, Hera will help turn asteroid deflection into a well understood and potentially repeatable technique.<\/p>\n
Hera will reach the Didymos asteroid and its Dimorphos moonlet in December 2026. By gathering crucial missing data during its close-up crash scene investigation, Hera will turn the kinetic impact method of asteroid deflection into a well understood technique that could potentially be used for real when needed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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