On the way to investigate the scene of a historic asteroid collision, a European spacecraft swung by Mars and captured rare images of the red planet's mysterious small moon Deimos, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Thursday.

For an hour, HERA flew as close as 5,600 kilometers from the Martian surface, at a speed of 33,480 kilometers an hour. It used the opportunity to test some of its scientific instruments, snapping around 600 pictures, including rare ones of Deimos.

While the car-sized spacecraft flew around the Mars system, flight controllers on Earth temporarily lost communication with Hera because the signal was blocked. Though the blackout was planned for the maneuver, Ian Carnelli, the European Space Agency's Hera mission manager, said it was deeply emotional.

On the way to investigate the scene of a historic asteroid collision, a European spacecraft swung by Mars and captured rare images of the red planet’s mysterious small moon, Deimos, the European Space Agency said on Thursday.

For an hour, HERA flew as close as 5,600 kilometres from the Martian surface, at a speed of 33,480 kilometres an hour. It used the opportunity to test some of its scientific instruments, snapping around 600 pictures, including rare ones of Deimos.

The European Space Agency launched Hera in 2024 to test asteroid-deflection techniques in deep space. The agency aims to improve planetary defense measures.

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.

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched its Hera mission on October 7, 2024, to inspect the damage caused by NASA’s DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) when it smashed into an asteroid to redirect its orbit.