According to a new mission update, the two nanosatellites will be released into orbit around the pair of asteroids and eventually land on the two space rocks.

"We're very happy to have these high-quality CubeSat missions join us to perform additional bonus science alongside their Hera mothership," Hera mission manager Ian Carnelli said in a news release. "Carrying added instruments and venturing much closer to our target bodies, they will give different perspectives and complementary investigations on this exotic binary asteroid. They will also give us valuable experience of close proximity operations relayed by the Hera mothercraft in extreme low-gravity conditions. This will be very valuable to many future missions."

CubeSats are standardized mini satellites measuring roughly four by four by four inches. The toaster-like cubes have become popular tools for space research. Multiple CubeSats can be carried into space and released to form integrated constellations, acting on their own or in coordination with a larger probe.