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The BepiColombo mission begins its arrival at Mercury after nearly 8 years
ESA and Japan’s space agency will split the spacecraft into two orbiters for the first time around another planet, beginning months of science operations.
- 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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Associated Press News+16 Reposted by 16 other sources
A pair of spacecraft draw closer to Mercury after nearly decade-long voyage
Two Mercury-bound spacecraft are in the home stretch of their nearly decade-long voyage. The linked spacecraft — one European, the other Japanese — separated from their mother ship on Thursday.
·New York, United States
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Here you will find information on the topic "Space Travel". Read now "Critical Maneuver to Mercury probe "Bepicolombo" succeeded.
·Germany
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A maneuver on the Mercury mission was considered critical in advance. Months of experts trained different scenarios.
saarbruecker-zeitung.de+2 Reposted by 2 other sources
A maneuver on the Mercury mission was considered critical in advance. Months of experts trained different scenarios.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources96
Leaning Left20Leaning Right5Center51Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
L 26%
C 67%
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