Hera in 3D: live position and trajectory

Launched in 2024, on its way to the asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos, to study what NASA’s DART impact left behind.The real position of Hera is shown, from the trajectory computed by NASA JPL Horizons. The view opens on Hera; you can travel in time, follow its route and compare it with the planets.

Mass

1,801 kg¹

Launch date

October 7, 2024¹

Launch vehicle

SpaceX Falcon 9¹

Launch site

Cape Canaveral, SFS¹

Trajectory: JPL Horizons, precomputed from October 8, 2024 to November 3, 2026.InstrumentsThe PDS archive declares no investigation here, and therefore no instrument. Read in the PDS archive on October 23, 2026.Flybys

March 12, 2025: Mars

Sources

NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Horizons System (target object data). read 2026-10-09. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/

3D Solar System

Galaxy

01 / 06 Initializing...

Display settings

In the scene

Preset

A column header sets the whole column, a group row its group, a row one object. Spacecraft and interstellar objects start hidden.

What the scene shows, object by object
Object	Label	Object	Orbit

Asteroid and comet field

Drawn in Exploration mode, one dot per known orbit.

Rendering

Accessibility and units

Offline use

Download every ephemeris file so the app can place the bodies at any date without a network. Nothing is downloaded until you ask.

Navigation

Drag orbit the view
Scroll · pinch zoom in / out
Click a body or its label to travel to it
Educ · Explo compressed overview vs true-scale voyage
Clock · date scroll to time-travel, tap to pick
Space play / pause time
/ search a body
T back to now
F full screen
M switch Educ / Explo
? show this help

Textures: USGS Astrogeology / NASA-JPL (public domain) · Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) · NOAA ETOPO 2022 · Halley, Itokawa, Gaspra, Ida: Philip Stooke / NASA PDS · Ryugu: ISAS/JAXA Hayabusa2 ONC (modified) · Lutetia, 67P: ESA/Rosetta OSIRIS, ESA, H. Sierks (CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO, modified).
Illustrative surfaces: Bodies never mapped globally have an illustrative texture, not a scientific map; the body card says so, and Sources lists them.
3D shape models: NASA PDS: NEAR (Eros), Hayabusa (Itokawa), Galileo (Ida, Gaspra) · ISAS/JAXA: Hayabusa2 (Ryugu) · NASA/Goddard SVS: OSIRIS-REx (Bennu)
Data: Astronomy Engine · NASA/JPL Horizons · JPL SBDB · NASA GIBS · NOAA NCEP GFS · NASA Planetary Data System (mission context products) · IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · ERA5, Copernicus Climate Change Service (ECMWF)