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Sped-up simulation of Hera’s Mars flyby
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By European Space Agency
Video: 00:01:36 On Wednesday 12 March 2025 ESA’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence performs a flyby of Mars. The gravity of the red planet shifts the spacecraft’s trajectory towards its final destination of the Didymos binary asteroid system, shortening its trip by months and saving substantial fuel.
Watch the livestream release of images from Hera’s flyby by the mission’s science team on Thursday 13 March, starting at 11:50 CET!
Hera comes to around 5000 km from the surface of Mars during its flyby. It will also image Deimos, the smaller of Mars’s two moons, from a minimum 1000 km away (while venturing as close as 300 km). Hera will also image Mars’s larger moon Phobos as it begins to move away from Mars.
Launched on 7 October 2024, Hera on its way to visit the first asteroid to have had its orbit altered by human action. By gathering close-up data about the Dimorphos asteroid, which was impacted by NASA’s DART spacecraft in 2022, Hera will help turn asteroid deflection into a well understood and potentially repeatable technique.
Hera will reach the Didymos asteroid and its Dimorphos moonlet in December 2026. By gathering crucial missing data during its close-up crash scene investigation, Hera will turn the kinetic impact method of asteroid deflection into a well understood technique that could potentially be used for real when needed.
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By European Space Agency
Join us live for a star-studded event this Thursday, as scientists working on ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence release the mission’s first scientific observations beyond the Earth-Moon system, following its imminent flyby of Mars.
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By NASA
James Gentile always wanted to fly. As he prepared for an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy to become a pilot, life threw him an unexpected curve: a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. His appointment was rescinded.
With his dream grounded, Gentile had two choices—give up or chart a new course. He chose the latter, pivoting to aerospace engineering. If he could not be a pilot, he would design the flight simulations that trained those who could.
Official portrait of James Gentile. NASA/Robert Markowitz As a human space vehicle simulation architect at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Gentile leads the Integrated Simulation team, which supports the Crew Compartment Office within the Simulation and Graphics Branch. He oversees high-fidelity graphical simulations that support both engineering analysis and flight crew training for the Artemis campaign.
His team provides critical insight into human landing system vendor designs, ensuring compliance with NASA’s standards. They also develop human-in-the-loop simulations to familiarize teams with the challenges of returning humans to the lunar surface, optimizing design and safety for future space missions.
“I take great pride in what I have helped to build, knowing that some of the simulations I developed have influenced decisions for the Artemis campaign,” Gentile said.
One of the projects he is most proud of is the Human Landing System CrewCo Lander Simulation, which helps engineers and astronauts tackle the complexities of lunar descent, ascent, and rendezvous. He worked his way up from a developer to managing and leading the project, transforming a basic lunar lander simulation into a critical tool for the Artemis campaign.
What began as a simple model in 2020 is now a key training asset used in multiple facilities at Johnson. The simulation evaluates guidance systems and provides hands-on piloting experience for lunar landers.
James Gentile in the Simulation Exploration and Analysis Lab during a visit with Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke. From left to right: Katie Tooher, Charlie Duke, Steve Carothers, Mark Updegrove, and James Gentile. NASA/James Blair Before joining Johnson as a contractor in 2018, Gentile worked in the aviation industry developing flight simulations for pilot training. Transitioning to the space sector was challenging at first, particularly working alongside seasoned professionals who had been part of the space program for years.
“I believe my experience in the private sector has benefited my career,” he said. “I’ve been able to bring a different perspective and approach to problem-solving that has helped me advance at Johnson.”
Gentile attributes his success to never being afraid to speak up and ask questions. “You don’t always have to be the smartest person in the room to make an impact,” he said. “I’ve been able to show my value through my work and by continuously teaching myself new skills.”
As he helps train the Artemis Generation, Gentile hopes to pass on his passion for aerospace and simulation development, inspiring others to persevere through obstacles and embrace unexpected opportunities.
“The most important lessons I’ve learned in my career are to build and maintain relationships with your coworkers and not to be afraid to step out of your comfort zone,” he said.
James Gentile with his son at NASA’s Johnson Space Center during the 2024 Bring Youth to Work Day. His journey did not go as planned, but in the end, it led him exactly where he was meant to be—helping humanity take its next giant leap.
“I’ve learned that the path to your goals may not always be clear-cut, but you should never give up on your dreams,” Gentile said.
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Sols 4468-4470: A Wintry Mix of Mars Science
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image showing its wheel awkwardly perched atop one of the rocks in this location, as well as the textures of the layered sulfate unit bedrock blocks. The rover used its Left Navigation Camera (Navcam), one of a pair of stereo cameras on either side of the rover’s masthead, to record the image on Feb. 28, 2025, on sol 4466, or Martian day 4,466 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, at 00:34:10 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Lucy Lim, Planetary Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth planning date: Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
Curiosity continues to climb roughly southward through the layered sulfate strata toward the “boxwork” features. Although the previous plan’s drive successfully advanced the rover roughly 21 meters southward (about 69 feet), the drive had ended with an awkwardly perched wheel. Because of this, unfortunately it was considered too risky to unstow the arm for contact science in this plan.
Nevertheless the team made the most of the imaging and LIBS observations available from the rover’s current location. A large Mastcam mosaic was planned on the nearby Texoli butte to capture its sedimentary structures from the rover’s new perspective. Toward the west, the boxwork strata exposed on “Gould Mesa” were observed using the ChemCam long-distance imaging capability, with Mastcam providing color context.
Several near-field Mastcam mosaics also captured some bedding and diagenetic structure in the nearby blocks as well as some modern aeolian troughs in the finer-grained material around them.
On the nearby blocks, two representative local blocks (“Gabrelino Trail” and “Sespe Creek”) are to be “zapped” with the ChemCam laser to give us LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) compositional measurements. The original Gabrelino Trail on Earth near the JPL campus is currently closed due to damage from the recent wildfires.
Meanwhile, the season on Mars (L_s ~ 50, or a solar longitude of about 50 degrees, heading into southern winter) has brought with it the opportunity to observe some recurring atmospheric phenomena: It’s aphelion cloud belt season, as well as Hadley cell transition season, during which a more southerly air mass crosses over Gale Crater.
This plan includes an APXS atmospheric observation (no arm movement required!) to measure argon and a ChemCam passive-sky observation to measure O2, which is a small (less than 1%) but measurable component in the Martian atmosphere. Dedicated cloud altitude observations, a phase function sky survey, and zenith and suprahorizon movies have also been included in the plan to characterize the clouds. As usual, the rover also continues to monitor the modern environment with measurements of atmospheric opacity via imaging, temperature, and humidity with REMS, and the local neutron environment with DAN.
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Last Updated Mar 04, 2025 Related Terms
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