Nothing from Space Science Reviews for a while, then Boom (vol. 222):
Palomba, E. Dirri, F. Gisellu, C. et al. VISTA: Dust and Volatile Sensor for the ESA Hera Mission 10 s11214-026-01266-x
The Hera mission to asteroid Didymos and its natural satellite Dimorphos carries the Milani CubeSat, named for storied asteroid scientist Andrea Milani. The CubeSat Milani flies the VISTA instrument, to tell stories of Dimorphos after its blow from the DART impactor. Space Sci Rev tells us of VISTA.
The VISTA instrument is a QCM- Quartz Crystal Microbalance. A sheet of quartz is exposed to space; as dust or other materials land on the quartz face, the quartz will “ring” with a different tone, due to the mass resting on it. Studying the various ring tones of the QCM then tells us of the dust and other escaping material floating around the Didymos system. Since Milani is a CubeSat, not the mother ship, the program managers are willing to fly it closer to the asteroids without jeopardizing the overall mission. After Milani has passed its originally stated goals, managers may decide to attempt a Dimorphos landing. If so, the VISTA detector will get an up-close look at any dust, organics, water vapor, etc. on it.
Hera: soon to be arriving and entering orbit in the Didymos system, late October and early November this year. The results will come pouring out, just like the rocks from the DART experiment!