Hera Captures Farewell Glimpse of Earth and Moon from Space
TL;DR
The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft, en route to study a binary asteroid system, captured thermal images of Earth and the moon from 2.3 million miles away. These images were taken during the initial testing of Hera's Thermal Infrared Imager, provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Launched on October 7, Hera aims to reach the site of NASA's 2022 Double Asteroid Redirect Mission (DART) by 2026, where it will study the aftermath of DART's collision with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, providing insights into planetary defense strategies.
- Hera asteroid probe 'waves goodbye' at Earth and moon from 2.3 million miles away (image) Space.com
- Spacecraft watches lonely Earth and moon fade into the distance Mashable
- Moon waves goodbye to Hera European Space Agency
- Hera spots Earth and the moon from space. See it here! EarthSky
- The Moon says goodbye to the Hera mission The Universe. Space. Tech
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