Tiniest Mars moon Deimos spotted by Europe's asteroid-chasing spacecraft
The European Space Agency's Hera mission was launched in October 2024 to check the homework of Nasa's DART mission. In 2022, DART intentionally smashed into an asteroid named Dimorphos during a planetary defense test. According to NASA, DART's impact changed Dimorphos' orbit around its parent asteroid, Didymos, by 32 minutes.
On Wednesday, during a Mars gravity assist, Hera used its trio of instruments to hone in on Mars and one of its small moons – the first object photographed by its cameras beyond Earth.
The ESA said Hera took the photographs of Deimos from just 620 miles away, capturing the less-visible side of the tidally-locked moon. Deimos measures just over 7 miles across. Scientists believe Deimos could be a leftover chunk from Mars or a gravitationally captured asteroid, according to the ESA.
'Loss Of Signal:' Nasa Successfully Crashes Dart Spacecraft Into Asteroid For Planetary Defense Test
"These instruments have been tried out before, during Hera's departure from Earth, but this is the first time that we have employed them on a small distant moon for which we still lack knowledge – demonstrating their excellent performance in the process," ESA's Hera mission scientist Michael Kueppers said in an ESA blog.
However, Hera's target of study is much smaller than the little 7-mile moon of Mars.
The binary asteroid pair is measured in feet instead of miles. The spacecraft will visit the asteroid Didymos, which is about 2,500 feet across, and its moonlit Dimorphos, which is about 500 feet across.
The Mars flyby set up Hera for a follow-up maneuver in February 2026 and then a December 2026 arrival at Didymos.Original article source: Tiniest Mars moon Deimos spotted by Europe's asteroid-chasing spacecraft
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
During the first six months of the year, an array of 56 orbital rockets took flight from Florida's Space Coast. This unpreceded pace will zoom beyond 2024's freshly established annual record of 93 launches — should the cadence continue through year's end. Will a new launch record materialize at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's neighboring Kennedy Space Center? Stay tuned. The Cape's July launch schedule features a variety of SpaceX Starlink missions, with space fans anticipating target dates for NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission, United Launch Alliance's USSF-106 national security mission and Blue Origin's next New Glenn rocket liftoff. Following are the latest missions coming up from the Cape. All launches are listed in Eastern Standard Time. But be aware: Dates and times routinely change for a wide variety of reasons. For the latest mission updates and space news, visit For questions or comments, email FLORIDA TODAY Space Reporter Rick Neale at Rneale@ Cape Canaveral: Rocket launches in Florida: Here's an updating list of all 2025 missions from Cape Canaveral Though SpaceX has yet to announce this mission, the Space Coast Office of Tourism indicates a Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch the next batch of Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit. Launch window: 1:48 a.m. Trajectory: Northeast. Location: Space Launch Complex 40 Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at Mission: NASA and SpaceX will team up to send four crew members for a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station. Launch: TBA. Location: TBA. Live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team coverage: Starts two hours before liftoff at Mission: Equipped with four solid rocket boosters, ULA's third Vulcan rocket will take flight on the Space Force's USSF-106 national security mission into geosynchronous orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth. Launch: TBA. Location: Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Sonic booms: No. Live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team coverage: Starts two hours before liftoff at Mission: Blue Origin will launch its second powerhouse New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Launch window: TBA. Location: Launch Complex 36. Live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team coverage: Starts two hours before liftoff at Mission: Sierra Space will launch its uncrewed Dream Chaser space plane atop a ULA Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Launch window: TBA. Location: Launch Complex 41. Live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team coverage: Starts two hours minutes before liftoff at For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter. Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Rocket launch schedule: July missions from Cape Canaveral, Florida
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Rare object from beyond our solar system spotted zipping around Earth
A newly discovered interstellar object is hurtling around us, only the third such interloper to be observed in our solar system. The object is not expected to pose an impact risk to Earth, but telescopes around the world have been able to detect the mystery visitor. The object — provisionally known as A11pl3Z — gained attention on Tuesday when it was spotted by telescopes for NASA's early warning system for asteroid impacts. Shortly after the discovery, amateur and professional astronomers looked through archival images and found it in earlier data from June. More than 100 observations have been made of the object, including from telescopes in Chile and Arizona. The object is traveling fast, speeding at our solar system at about 245,000 kilometers per hour relative to the sub, according to astronomer Josep M. Trigo Rodríguez. It is currently located just inside the orbit of Jupiter. The object — which will get a new name when it is approved and published by the Minor Planet Center — is currently 528 million kilometers from Earth (roughly the the distance it would take to travel from Earth to the moon 1,370 times.) It's uncertain if the object — appearing very faint at the moment — is a comet or asteroid at this time, according to scientists on Minor Planet mailing list. But the observations so far have helped track the object's journey, indicating it likely came from outside of the solar system from a thin galactic disk. The object could between 12 miles (20 kilometers) to 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide, according to various scientists. Marshall Eubanks, chief scientist at Space Initiatives Inc., estimated it could come close enough to Mars in early October to be observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, although it would be only about 0.2 pixels wide. It is expected to reach its closest point to the sun later around October 29, reaching a distance about twice as far as Earth is from the sun. This is the third interstellar object to be observed in our solar system, with the other two found in the past decade. In 2017, scientists observed the first interstellar object known as Oumuamua, appearing rocky and cigar-shaped. Although it puzzled scientists because it didn't quite fit the definition of an asteroid or comet. In 2019, scientists saw our second interstellar visitor, comet 2I/Borisov. Part of the recent discoveries may be chalked up to more observations over time and a significantly improved capability to scan the skies, scientists said on the list serv. Such discoveries may become more commonplace with the surveys from the Vera Rubin Observatory, which has already found thousands of new asteroids in just 10 hours of operation. Compared to the other two previously found objects, A11pl3Z has a unique orbit. It has a very extreme hyperbolic trajectory through the solar system (or a high eccentricity) — meaning it won't be coming back to our solar system once it leaves. More observations will help scientists determine the object's path through our solar system, where it came from and if it's a comet. The object will appear brighter as it approaches Earth, but models show it will likely be on the other side of the sun. But, don't be bummed, there's probably another interstellar object waiting to be discovered in time.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Learn About: NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Flyby With Asteroid Donaldjohanson
Learn more about the Lucy mission "fly past 52246 Donaldjohanson -NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Dan Gallagher: Producer/Narrator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez: Animator Kel Elkins: Animator Johathan North: Animator Michael Lentz: Animator/Art Director Walt Feimer: Animation Lead Nancy Jones: Public Affairs Katherine Kretke: Public Affairs Universal Production Music: 'Nico's Journey' by Nicholas Smith [PRS]; 'Knowing Half the Future' and 'Temporal Timings' by Lee John Gretton [PRS]; 'Poly Propulsion' by Alfie Solo [PRS]
