On 12 March 2025, the ESA Hera probe flew around Mars on its way to the double asteroid system of Didymos and Dimorphos. The maneuver allowed the ship to accelerate in the gravity well of the Red Planet, which will save fuel. Also, during the Mars flyby, the probe tested the scientific equipment on board in order to arrive at the asteroids with full confidence in the success of the mission. The other day, the agency released new footage of the probe’s flyby of Mars, which shows the planet from an unusual angle.
Approaching Mars. Image credit: ESA
The Hera spacecraft flew around Mars at an altitude of 5,700 km. For the first time, it flew over the Martian satellite Deimos, which is one of the smallest satellites among all in the Solar System. The closest approach to Deimos was 297 km. No spacecraft has ever flown over it, so the data collected by Hera is difficult to overestimate. In addition to the visible range camera, the probe passed over the satellite and Mars with near and mid-infrared range cameras.
After flying around Mars and accelerating, the probe headed for a binary asteroid system. Hera will arrive at its destination in October 2026. It will collect data on the asteroid Dimorpho, which NASA rammed with the DART probe for the scientific purpose of studying the possibility of changing the trajectories of asteroids dangerous to Earth. Data on the change in Dimorpho’s orbit after the impact will help refine models for calculating similar maneuvers in the future. This will be the main goal of the Hera mission.