Robotic spacecraft BepiColombo, developed in cooperation with the European Space Exploration Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA), for Mercury research studies, reached the closest point to Mercury last night.
Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to the Sun, is full of unknowns with its intense heat and core structure. To probe Mercury, European and Japanese space exploration companies developed a robotic spacecraft. BopiColombo, a combination of two different spacecraft developed by ESA and JAXA, started its 7-year journey in 2018. Last night, it passed over Earth and came closest to Mercury. The first photo of Mercury taken from the closest position was published today. More photos are expected in the coming days.
The first photo taken from the closest point to Mercury:
The expected Mercury photo from BopiColombo has arrived. Although this photo is black and white and of poor quality considering today’s technology, it is of great importance to researchers. The current hardware of the spacecraft is not suitable for the use of high-resolution science cameras. There are several surveillance cameras mounted on the outside of the vehicle, which consists of two parts. This first photo of Mercury was taken with a low-resolution tracking camera located on the side of BepiColombo. The first photo shared today aroused more curiosity for other photos to be shared within the week.
What will BepiColombo’s journey be like?
The journey, which started in 2018, will continue in 2023, 2024 and 2025 with the efforts to enter Mercury’s orbit. BepiColombo must be sighted in a regular position in Mercury’s orbit in order to begin operations scheduled to take place in 2026. We mentioned that this robotic spacecraft consists of two parts. These two parts, developed by European and Japanese space research companies, will be separated when Mercury enters its orbit and will have different missions.
Europe’s Planetary Orbiter (MPO) was designed to map the terrain of Mercury, gather information about surface structure, calculate elevations of landforms, and sense its interior structure. Japan’s Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will first study Mercury’s magnetic field. It will investigate the interaction of Mercury with its rippling mass ‘solar winds’ with particles moving away from the sun.
Researchers hope that these simultaneous studies will solve many riddles about Mercury, which is described as a “warm little world”.
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