On its way to the Didymos double asteroid system ESA spacecraft Hera has successfully captured images of distant asteroids (1126) Otero and (18805) Kellyday. This was done with the Asteroid Framing Camera (AFC) – a navigational and scientific instrument meant to guide the spacecraft during its approach to its mission target, next year.
The AFC, produced by Jena-Optronik in Germany, incorporates two baffle-protected cameras for redundancy, ensuring reliable imaging even in the most challenging conditions. At the heart of each camera is Caeleste’s Faintstar2 sensor, a high-performance, SpaceWire-connected image sensor and data pre-processor designed for high-accuracy navigation applications such as star trackers, navigation cameras, and sun sensors.
These first images of remote and faint objects push Hera’s imaging capabilities to the limit, but demonstrate not only the spacecraft’s agility and the AFC’s reliability, but also the critical role of advanced sensors in space exploration. With Faintstar2 on board, Hera is fully equipped to capture detailed views of asteroids, supporting scientific analysis, autonomous navigation, and planetary defense efforts.
Source:
ESA