BepiColombo reaches Mercury after 8-year journey
After eight years of travel, the BepiColombo mission has reached Mercury, marking the start of its orbital phase. Two spacecraft will study the planet's surface, magnetosphere, and atmosphere in a joint ESA-JAXA mission.
Consensus
- The BepiColombo mission has arrived at Mercury after eight years of travel.
- The mission is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
- The spacecraft consists of two components: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MIO).
- The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) was used to transport the two orbiters to Mercury and has now been separated.
- The MPO will enter orbit around Mercury on 21 November 2026.
- The scientific phase of the mission is scheduled to begin in April 2027.
- The mission aims to study Mercury's formation, evolution, surface, magnetosphere, and atmosphere.
- The spacecraft has completed nine flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury during its journey.
- The mission launched in October 2018 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.
- The spacecraft has traveled over 10 billion kilometers.
- The mission is named after Italian engineer Giuseppe 'Bepi' Colombo.
Points of divergence
- The transport module began separation on 3 September, and data collection from instruments started during the journey and six flybys, with most instruments beginning work only after separation. — gazeta_spb
- The 'arrival' phase officially began on 3 September with the separation of the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), and the MPO will enter orbit on 21 November 2026. — fontanka
- The MPO and Mio will separate on 9–10 December 2026. — gazeta_spb
- The MPO and MIO will separate on 9–10 December, with MIO being deployed after being detached from MPO and spun up. — fontanka
- The MPO is equipped with 11 instruments for mapping terrain, minerals, gravity field, and volcanic deposits. — gazeta_spb
- The MPO will use small engines to place MIO on its orbit, and MPO will later jettison its sunshield. — fontanka
- The Mio will study the magnetosphere, atmosphere, and dust, and both spacecraft will measure the magnetic field simultaneously at different points. — gazeta_spb
- The MPO will continue its orbit after shedding the sunshield. — fontanka
- Planetary scientist Sean Solomon expects new publications and clear images of the southern hemisphere and hidden water ice deposits in craters. — gazeta_spb
- The main challenge was matching Mercury’s orbital speed, requiring a combination of electric propulsion and nine gravity assists. — fontanka
- Mercury remains the least studied planet in the inner Solar System, with only two prior missions: Mariner 10 (1974–1975) and Messenger (2011). — gazeta_spb
- BepiColombo took longer to reach Mercury than missions like Galileo and Juno, despite Mercury being closer than Jupiter. — fontanka
Coverage (2 sources)
- After eight years in flight, two space probes approach Mercury - SPb Newspaper - St. Petersburg news — Gazeta.SPb
- BepiColombo mission approaches Mercury after 8 years of flight. Orbit insertion - already in November — Фонтанка