ESA's Hera mission, dedicated to planetary defense, will conduct a Mars flyby on March 12, 2025. This maneuver will utilize Mars's gravity to adjust the spacecraft's trajectory towards the Didymos binary asteroid system, reducing travel time and conserving fuel.
The flyby will also enable Hera to image Deimos, Mars's smaller moon, using its Asteroid Framing Camera, Hyperscout H, and Thermal Infrared Imager. The spacecraft will approach Deimos as close as 300 km. Data collected will aid the Japanese-led Martian Moons eXploration Mission (MMX) in 2026 and enhance understanding of asteroid deflection techniques, following NASA's DART mission in 2022 that altered Dimorphos's orbit. Hera is expected to reach its destination in late 2026.