Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In June 2023 the joint ESA/JAXA space mission BepiColombo swung by Mercury for the third time, using the smallest planet's gravity to alter its trajectory a little bit in preparation to go into orbit around Mercury in 2025. As it passed as close as 236 kilometers (!!!) from the surface it took a lot of images, which have been strung together to make this extremely cool video. You can see parts of the spacecraft on the left and battered, cratered Mercury loom into and out of view during the flyby.
Credit: Image: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO; Music composed by ILĀ.
Original video: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/BepiColombo_s_third_Mercury_flyby_the_movie
More info: badastronomy.substack.com/p/mercury-looms-large-in-new-spectacular
In June 2023 the joint ESA/JAXA space mission BepiColombo swung by Mercury for the third time, using the smallest planet's gravity to alter its trajectory a little bit in preparation to go into orbit around Mercury in 2025. As it passed as close as 236 kilometers (!!!) from the surface it took a lot of images, which have been strung together to make this extremely cool video. You can see parts of the spacecraft on the left and battered, cratered Mercury loom into and out of view during the flyby.
Credit: Image: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO; Music composed by ILĀ.
Original video: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/BepiColombo_s_third_Mercury_flyby_the_movie
More info: badastronomy.substack.com/p/mercury-looms-large-in-new-spectacular
