ESA's Hera Mission Captures Rare Images of Martian Moon Deimos During Mars Flyby, Gaining Insights into Lunar Origins

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Hera mission, en route to the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system, executed a Mars flyby on March 12, 2025, capturing unprecedented images of Deimos, one of Mars' moons. The flyby served as a gravitational assist, adjusting Hera's trajectory and shortening its journey to its destination. Hera approached within 1,000 kilometers of Deimos, imaging its far side, rarely seen before, using instruments like the Hyperscout-H multispectral imager and the Thermal Infrared Imager (TIRI). These images aim to determine Deimos's composition and origin, addressing whether it's a captured asteroid or formed from Martian debris. The TIRI, provided by JAXA, mapped Deimos's surface temperature, potentially revealing its material compaction state. Hera, launched in October 2024, is scheduled to reach Didymos and Dimorphos by late 2026 to study the impact crater created by NASA's DART mission, furthering asteroid deflection techniques.