HyperScout H, aboard the Hera asteroid mission, is a hyperspectral imager designed to observe in 25 spectral bands that extend from the visible to the near-infrared (650 - 950 nm). The false color images of Earth, taken on October 11 between 01:59 and 18:09 UTC, demonstrate how each wavelength was separated to visualize the different components of the planet. The TwilightShifted color palette, ranging from bluish black to purplish white and reddish black, represents varying intensities of light.

"This allows us to observe cloud patterns on our planet from a distance of nearly 2,000,000 kilometers away and to test the sharpness of our data processing algorithms," said Marcel Popescu from the University of Craiova, Romania, an instrument team member. "To quote Carl Sagan, all our lives are contained within these few pixels."

Following a successful launch on October 7, 2024, Hera began its Near-Earth Commissioning Phase, during which its instruments were tested for the first time. On October 10 and 11, Hera's instruments-including HyperScout H-were directed back towards Earth, capturing early images of both Earth and the Moon from over a million kilometers away.

"Once Hera reaches the Dimorphos asteroid, HyperScout H will prospect its mineral make-up," explained Julia de Leon, the principal investigator from Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. "This first calibration test was an exciting experience, which showed that both the instrument and its data processing chain are working well."

HyperScout H, approximately the size of a shoebox, is the latest in a series of HyperScout imagers, previously used in terrestrial orbit for Earth observation. It was produced by cosine Remote Sensing in the Netherlands, with support from the European Space Agency.

Marco Esposito, Managing Director of cosine Remote Sensing, commented, "It is fantastic to have the Earth-Moon system as our first target, observing this unique relationship and capturing it spectrally as we move swiftly toward Mars."

Hera is ESA's first planetary defense mission and aims to study the first asteroid to have its orbit altered by human intervention. The Dimorphos asteroid, targeted by NASA's DART spacecraft in 2022, will be closely examined by Hera to turn asteroid deflection into a refined and repeatable process. Next March, HyperScout H will join other Hera instruments in observing Mars and its moon Deimos as the spacecraft swings by the Red Planet.