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A pair of spacecraft draw closer to Mercury after nearly decade-long voyage
The European-Japanese mission will spend about six months in arrival operations before its twin orbiters split to map Mercury’s magnetic field and interior.
- The Mercury Transfer Module will separate from the BepiColombo spacecraft stack today, Thursday, at 8 a.m. ET, marking a critical milestone for the European Space Agency's mission to Mercury.
- Jointly operated by the ESA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency , the mission deploys two independent spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter to observe the planet's surface, and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter to study the space environment.
- The spacecraft faces extreme conditions, with surface temperatures reaching 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Ignacio Tanco, head of Inner Solar System Mission Operations at the ESA, said the environment is "essentially equivalent to operating with a very hot pizza oven running right on your back."
- Scientists hope to probe mysteries including surface depressions called hollows and investigate why Mercury is so dense for its size, according to Geraint Jones, lead project scientist for BepiColombo at the ESA.
- The orbiters will be captured by Mercury's gravity on November 21, then separate and enter their final orbital positions by March before science operations officially begin in April.
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With the arrival of the BepiColombo mission to Mercury a new line of research on the Moon could help solve its mysterious origin
BepiColombo Begins Final Approach to Mercury
After nearly eight years and billions of kilometers of travel, BepiColombo -- a science mission led by ESA in close collaboration with JAXA -- has begun its long-awaited arrival at the smallest and innermost planet in our Solar System. The post BepiColombo Begins Final Approach to Mercury appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
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Total News Sources159
Leaning Left39Leaning Right13Center76Last UpdatedBias Distribution59% Center
Bias Distribution
- 59% of the sources are Center
59% Center
L 31%
C 59%
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