ESA Hera Spacecraft Captures First Image Showing Both Target Asteroids Separately
ESA announced its Hera spacecraft resolved its target asteroids, Didymos and Dimorphos, as two separate objects for the first time. On 18 October, at a distance of 1,280 km from the pair, Hera used its monochromatic Asteroid Framing Camera to capture the image. Before this, the pair appeared as a single dot. Dimorphos is 151 metres across and orbits the larger 780-metre Didymos asteroid roughly 197 million kilometres from Earth. This milestone comes after NASA's DART mission intentionally struck Dimorphos in September 2022, shifting its orbit. Scientists are studying whether kinetic impacts can defend Earth from incoming space rocks. Hera is approaching the binary system to inspect the impact zone closely, with detailed pictures expected on 25 November. This image marks the start of the mission's close-up investigation into how the collision altered the smaller asteroid's structure.
What was announced
The European Space Agency announced that its Hera spacecraft captured its first view showing the asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos as two distinct objects. The spacecraft took the photo on the evening of Friday 18 October using its monochromatic Asteroid Framing Camera while 1,280 kilometres away from the pair.
Before this image, Hera saw the binary asteroid system as a single point of light. Dimorphos appears as just one pixel in the photo, but it is visibly separated from Didymos. The milestone followed two braking manoeuvres earlier in the month. ESA fired Hera's thrusters twice, one week apart, to slow the spacecraft to 20 metres per second relative to the asteroids. Didymos measures 780 metres across, while Dimorphos spans 151 metres and orbits its larger companion at about 18 centimetres per second at an average distance of 1.15 kilometres.
What it means
Hera is moving into position to examine the site of a major planetary defence experiment. On 26 September 2022, NASA collided its DART spacecraft with Dimorphos at 6.1 kilometres per second. The impact knocked debris across 10,000 kilometres of space and shortened Dimorphos's orbital period around Didymos by about 33 minutes.
ESA designed Hera to investigate what happened to Dimorphos after that collision. Over the coming months, Hera will conduct a close-up survey of the crash site using several instruments and two small CubeSats. The mission will gather data on the asteroid's mass, structure, and internal makeup, and eventually attempt a landing. ESA stated it will release sharper, detailed images of Dimorphos on 25 November as the spacecraft moves closer.
What the announcement does not tell us
The announcement does not state whether the DART impact left a distinct crater or reshaped the entire body of Dimorphos. ESA notes that current computer simulations cannot fully explain why the original deflection was so large, and the physical properties causing that outcome remain unknown.
The agency also does not detail the exact flight path or timing for the two CubeSats' deployment. Furthermore, the announcement does not give a specific date for when Hera or the CubeSats will attempt to land on the asteroid.
How this was written
This analysis was written with AI from the official announcement below, using only facts that announcement states. The quoted wording is ESA Space News’s own. Always check the original before acting on anything here.
The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence has resolved its two target asteroids separately for the very first time, revealing the binary nature of the Didymos system, currently some 197 million km away from Earth.
Opens www.esa.int
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