ESA's Hera spacecraft inaugurated use of its science instruments to image the smaller of the planet's two moons, Deimos.

Like our moon, Deimos is tidally locked to Mars, meaning the same side always faces the planet—the only side visible to rovers on the Martian surface. The only way to see Deimos’ far side up close is for a probe like Hera to fly behind it, making such images more of a rarity.

Hera will investigate the consequences of the targeted impact of the Dart probe into an asteroid moon. It has now gained momentum on Mars.

Space probe Hera passed Mars while on its way to the Didymos asteroid system as part of planetary defence mission.View on euronews

Europe's HERA mission has taken a good look at Mars and its moon Deimos on its way to explore the aftermath of the DART impact in the Didymos–Dimorphos asteroid system.

A mission to survey the results of a deliberate crash between an asteroid and a NASA spacecraft has taken stunning images of Mars and its moon Deimos

Hera spacecraft captured an extraordinary near-infrared image of Mars’ moon Deimos during a flyby of the Red Planet. This marks the first use of Hera’s science instruments, providing a detailed view of Deimos silhouetted against Mars—a rare perspective of the lesser-known Martian moon.