Hello Mars, hello Deimos! 🔴🪨 During its gravity-assist flyby of Mars, our Hera mission for planetary defence turned its instruments towards the red planet and its mysterious moon, Deimos! Hera is on a mission to study Dimorphos, the first asteroid to have its orbit altered by human action, but on 12 March 2025, it made a special pit stop at Mars. Passing just 5000 km from the planet, it used Mars’s gravity to slingshot towards its final destination—saving time and fuel along the way. But that’s not all! As Hera zoomed past at 9 km/s, its instruments got to work: 1. Asteroid Framing Camera (visible light, from dlr.en): Captured rare views of Deimos against Mars. 2. Hyperscout H (hyperspectral imager): Revealed surface materials in wavelengths beyond human vision. 3. Thermal Infrared Imager (TIRI, from jaxajp): Showed Deimos glowing hotter than Mars, thanks to its dark, heat-absorbing surface! At just 12.4 km across, Deimos could be a captured asteroid or a leftover from a gian...