\tScience & Exploration<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t21\/11\/2025
\n\t\t\t\t311 views
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4 likes<\/p>\n
The ESA\/JAXA BepiColombo<\/a> mission has been cruising towards Mercury since October 2018. With just one year to go until it arrives at its destination, what has the mission achieved so far? And what can we expect from its two spacecraft after they enter orbit around the Solar System\u2019s smallest and least-explored rocky planet<\/a>?\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tBepiColombo’s journey to Mercury<\/a><\/p>\n During the last seven years, BepiColombo has swung past Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury six times. Aside from investigating the planets, the mission monitored solar activity<\/a> and studied how the Sun’s gravity affects radio signals<\/a> by bending spacetime itself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The mission\u2019s main \u2018science phase\u2019 will only start after ESA\u2019s\u00a0Mercury Planetary Orbiter<\/a>\u00a0(MPO) and JAXA\u2019s\u00a0Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter<\/a>\u00a0(MMO, or Mio) spacecraft enter orbit around Mercury, but scientists and engineers have made the most of the mission\u2019s winding journey to its destination.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The video below recaps the mission\u2019s achievements so far. Text continues after video\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe epic adventures of BepiColombo – Part 2: It’s a long way to Mercury A key highlight has been measurements of Mercury\u2019s magnetic environment during each close flight past the little planet. Mercury’s magnetic field shields the planet\u2019s surface from the brunt of the particles flung at it by the Sun, called the solar wind<\/a>. But because the planet orbits so close to our star, where the solar wind is denser and has a stronger magnetic field of its own, the size and shape of Mercury’s protective magnetic bubble change depending on the Sun’s activity. Understanding how Mercury\u2019s magnetic field works is one of the key mysteries<\/a> BepiColombo set out to solve.\u00a0<\/p>\n BepiColombo collected the first magnetic measurements from low over the planet\u2019s southern hemisphere<\/a>, and reconstructed a map of the planet\u2019s magnetic field<\/a>. These can be compared to the magnetic field measured during the spacecraft\u2019s flight past Earth<\/a> in 2020 and flight past Venus<\/a> in 2021. (Venus doesn\u2019t have a magnetic field, so the magnetic measurements only capture changes in the solar wind hitting the spacecraft.)\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious to hear what a spacecraft \u2018feels\u2019 while flying past a planet, you have your pick of sonifications from BepiColombo\u2019s flights past Earth<\/a>, Venus<\/a> and Mercury (here<\/a> and here<\/a>). These recordings by MPO\u2019s accelerometer<\/a> capture gravitational tugs on the spacecraft, the effects of temperature changes from entering and exiting the planets\u2019 shadows, and movements of spacecraft components.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Arguably the most lauded equipment so far has been the monitoring cameras<\/a> (M-CAMs) on the Mercury Transfer Module<\/a>\u00a0(MTM). These \u2018selfie cameras\u2019 were designed to monitor the spacecraft, but also captured hundreds of 1024×1024-pixel planet photos. These showed Earth spinning as BepiColombo approached, bright Venus living up to its nickname \u2018the Morning Star\u2019, and countless craters, volcanoes and plains on Mercury. Story continues after images\u00a0<\/p>\n \tScience to look forward to <\/p>\n BepiColombo will be the first mission to study Mercury with two spacecraft at the same time. MPO will orbit close to the planet\u2019s surface, and Mio in a larger elliptical orbit.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, MPO and Mio \u2013 the latter nestled inside a protective sunshield \u2013 have been stacked on top of their \u2018trusty engine\u2019 MTM. Several of the mission\u2019s scientific instruments can\u2019t yet be used, or are partially hindered, until the stacked spacecraft separate after arriving at Mercury in November 2026.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Once \u2018unstacked\u2019, MPO<\/a> and Mio<\/a> can finally use all their instruments to their full potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, instead of the modest black-and-white images taken by MTM\u2019s monitoring cameras, MPO will scan Mercury\u2019s surface in high resolution in X-rays (with imaging spectrometer MIXS<\/a>), visible and near-infrared light (with stereo camera and spectrometer SIMBIO-SYS<\/a>) and infrared light (with imaging spectrometer MERTIS<\/a>). To ensure that we accurately capture Mercury\u2019s topography, MPO\u2019s BELA<\/a> laser altimeter instrument will measure the precise height and shape of Mercury\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n Put together, this data will give us a precise map of Mercury\u2019s surface, and tell us what it\u2019s made of, how it formed, how it changes over time, and what temperature it is. Flying over Mercury\u2019s poles, MPO will also be able to peer into craters filled with permanent shadow \u2013 if there is water on Mercury, this is where it would be!<\/p>\n And, while both Mio and MPO have already used their magnetometers and some of their particle detectors to investigate Mercury\u2019s surroundings, their measurements will be more sensitive and precise when the spacecraft are separated. After separation, Mio will additionally be able to use its sodium imager MSASI<\/a> and dust detector MDM<\/a> to investigate other material near Mercury.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tBepiColombo science themes<\/a><\/p>\n \tNotes for Editors<\/p>\n BepiColombo is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), executed under ESA leadership. It is Europe’s first mission to Mercury. Starting science operations in early 2027, both its two science orbiters will gather data during a one-year nominal mission, with a possible 1.5-year extension.\u00a0<\/p>\n Follow the latest mission news via esa.int\/bepicolombo<\/a>.<\/p>\n Find out more about Space Science at ESA<\/a> and the Agency’s Science Programme<\/a>.<\/p>\n \nFor more information, please contact: Like<\/p>\n Thank you for liking<\/p>\n You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Science & Exploration 21\/11\/2025 311 views 4 likes The ESA\/JAXA BepiColombo mission has been cruising towards Mercury since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[90,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-275363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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