The European Space Agency (ESA) has released the first image of the asteroid Dimorphos captured by its Hera spacecraft. This milestone was achieved as the probe approached the Didymos binary asteroid system, which includes Dimorphos. The mission follows NASA’s successful DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) planetary defense experiment, which altered Dimorphos’ orbit in September 2022.
First Look at the ‘Battered’ Asteroid
Launched in October 2024, the Hera probe drew near the Didymos system and acquired its first image on October 18 from a distance of 795 miles (1,280 kilometers). At the time, the asteroids were approximately 122 million miles (197 million kilometers) from Earth.
“Dimorphos, the smaller of the two asteroids, is visible for the first time in this image,” stated Michael Küppers, Hera’s Project Scientist at ESA. Prior to this, the spacecraft had only perceived the Didymos system as a single point of light. Now, although Dimorphos appears as roughly one pixel in this initial photograph, it is clearly distinguished from its larger “parent” body.
Hera Mission: Assessing Impact and Future Research
The Hera mission is designed to meticulously study the aftermath of the DART spacecraft’s collision with Dimorphos. The probe aims to gather new data on the asteroid itself, including its internal structure and characteristics, and to refine the effectiveness of the kinetic impactor method for planetary defense.
Hera is equipped with 12 scientific instruments, along with two small CubeSats, which will conduct close-up investigations of the surface of the 151-meter (495-foot) Dimorphos. The first detailed images of the asteroid, which has become the first object in the solar system whose orbit has been altered by human action, are expected to be released on November 25.
