Uploaded July 2010 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
facebook.com/ScienceReason ... BepiColombo will set off in 2014 on a journey lasting approximately six years. When it arrives at Mercury in mid 2020, it will endure temperatures as high as 350 °C and gather data during its one year nominal mission, with a possible 1-year extension.
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About the mission
BepiColombo, an ESA mission in cooperation with Japan, will explore Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun. Europe's space scientists have identified the mission as one of the most challenging long-term planetary projects, because Mercury's proximity to the Sun makes it difficult for a spacecraft to reach and survive in the harsh environment. The scientific interest to go to Mercury lies in the valuable clues that such a mission can provide in understanding the planet itself as well as the formation of our Solar System; clues which cannot be obtained with distant observations from Earth.
Only one probe has visited Mercury so far, NASA's Mariner 10 which flew past three times in 1974-5 and returned the only close-up images of the planet so far. The information gleaned when BepiColombo arrives will throw light not only on the composition and history of Mercury, but also on the history and formation of the inner planets in general, including the Earth.
The mission will consist of two separate spacecraft that will orbit the planet. ESA is building one of the main spacecraft, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), and the Japanese space agency ISAS/JAXA will contribute the other, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO).
The MPO will study the surface and internal composition of the planet, and the MMO will study Mercury's magnetosphere, that is the region of space around the planet that is dominated by its magnetic field.
Technological challenges
With two spacecraft, BepiColombo is a large and costly mission, one of the 'cornerstones' in ESA's long-term science programme. The mission presents enormous, but exciting challenges. All of ESA's previous inter-planetary missions have been to relatively cold parts of the Solar System. BepiColombo will be the Agency's first experience of sending spacecraft to 'hot' regions.
The journey from Earth to Mercury will also be a first. After launch into a geostationary transfer orbit, the Mercury Composite Spacecraft will be boosted to the phasing orbit using chemical propulsion. From here the spacecraft will be set on its interplanetary trajectory through a flyby of the Moon. On its way to Mercury, the spacecraft must brake against the Sun's gravity, which increases with proximity to the Sun, rather than accelerate away from it, as is the case with journeys to the outer Solar System. BepiColombo will accomplish this by making clever use of the gravity of the Earth, Venus and Mercury itself and by using solar electric propulsion (SEP). This innovative combination of low thrust space propulsion and gravity assist has been demonstrated by ESA's technology mission, SMART-1.
When approaching Mercury, the spacecraft will use the planet's gravity plus conventional rocket engines to insert itself into a polar orbit. A special Weak Stability Boundary Capturing technique is employed. This gives flexibility and is more robust against failures compared to using the more traditional "big kick" approach (single burn capture). The MMO will be released into its operational orbit, then the Sunshield and the MMO interface structure will be separated while the chemical propulsion system will bring the MPO to its lower orbit. The mission design and deployment sequence is schematically depicted in the above figure. Observations from orbit will continue for one Earth year.
• http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=30
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facebook.com/ScienceReason ... BepiColombo will set off in 2014 on a journey lasting approximately six years. When it arrives at Mercury in mid 2020, it will endure temperatures as high as 350 °C and gather data during its one year nominal mission, with a possible 1-year extension.
---
Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:
• youtube.com/Best0fScience
• youtube.com/ScienceTV
• youtube.com/FFreeThinker
• youtube.com/RationalHumanism
---
About the mission
BepiColombo, an ESA mission in cooperation with Japan, will explore Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun. Europe's space scientists have identified the mission as one of the most challenging long-term planetary projects, because Mercury's proximity to the Sun makes it difficult for a spacecraft to reach and survive in the harsh environment. The scientific interest to go to Mercury lies in the valuable clues that such a mission can provide in understanding the planet itself as well as the formation of our Solar System; clues which cannot be obtained with distant observations from Earth.
Only one probe has visited Mercury so far, NASA's Mariner 10 which flew past three times in 1974-5 and returned the only close-up images of the planet so far. The information gleaned when BepiColombo arrives will throw light not only on the composition and history of Mercury, but also on the history and formation of the inner planets in general, including the Earth.
The mission will consist of two separate spacecraft that will orbit the planet. ESA is building one of the main spacecraft, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), and the Japanese space agency ISAS/JAXA will contribute the other, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO).
The MPO will study the surface and internal composition of the planet, and the MMO will study Mercury's magnetosphere, that is the region of space around the planet that is dominated by its magnetic field.
Technological challenges
With two spacecraft, BepiColombo is a large and costly mission, one of the 'cornerstones' in ESA's long-term science programme. The mission presents enormous, but exciting challenges. All of ESA's previous inter-planetary missions have been to relatively cold parts of the Solar System. BepiColombo will be the Agency's first experience of sending spacecraft to 'hot' regions.
The journey from Earth to Mercury will also be a first. After launch into a geostationary transfer orbit, the Mercury Composite Spacecraft will be boosted to the phasing orbit using chemical propulsion. From here the spacecraft will be set on its interplanetary trajectory through a flyby of the Moon. On its way to Mercury, the spacecraft must brake against the Sun's gravity, which increases with proximity to the Sun, rather than accelerate away from it, as is the case with journeys to the outer Solar System. BepiColombo will accomplish this by making clever use of the gravity of the Earth, Venus and Mercury itself and by using solar electric propulsion (SEP). This innovative combination of low thrust space propulsion and gravity assist has been demonstrated by ESA's technology mission, SMART-1.
When approaching Mercury, the spacecraft will use the planet's gravity plus conventional rocket engines to insert itself into a polar orbit. A special Weak Stability Boundary Capturing technique is employed. This gives flexibility and is more robust against failures compared to using the more traditional "big kick" approach (single burn capture). The MMO will be released into its operational orbit, then the Sunshield and the MMO interface structure will be separated while the chemical propulsion system will bring the MPO to its lower orbit. The mission design and deployment sequence is schematically depicted in the above figure. Observations from orbit will continue for one Earth year.
• http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=30
.
![NASA Astronomy Pictures Of The Day [Week 3/2010]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sqYS7W-kgL8/mqdefault.jpg "NASA Astronomy Pictures Of The Day [Week 3/2010]
http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... NASA Astronomy Pictures Of The Day [Week 3/2010].
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► Eclipse over the Temple of Poseidon
The Moon moved to partly block the Sun for a few minutes last week as a partial solar eclipse became momentarily visible across part of planet Earth. In the above single exposure image, meticulous planning enabled careful photographers to capture the partially eclipsed Sun well posed just above the ancient ruins of the Temple of Poseidon in Sounio, Greece.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100118.html
► Dust Sculptures in the Rosette Nebula
Noted for the common beauty of its overall shape, parts of the Rosette Nebula, also known as NGC 2237, show beauty even when viewed up close. Visible above are globules of dark dust and gas that are slowly being eroded away by the energetic light and winds by nearby massive stars. Left alone long enough, the molecular-cloud globules would likely form stars and planets. The Rosette Nebula spans about 50 light-years across and lies about 4,500 light-years away.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091202.html
► Watch Jupiter Rotate
What would it be like to coast by Jupiter and watch it rotate? This was just the experience of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approached and flew by Jupiter. Visible above in the extensive atmosphere of the Solar Systems largest planet are bands and belts of light and dark clouds, as well as giant rotating storm systems seen as ovals. The robotic New Horizons spacecraft continues to speed toward the outer Solar System and has recently passed the halfway point between Earth and Pluto.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
► NGC 6992: Filaments of the Veil Nebula
Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 7,500 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving the Veil Nebula, also known as the Cygnus Loop. At the time, the expanding cloud was likely as bright as a crescent Moon, remaining visible for weeks to people living at the dawn of recorded history. Today, the resulting supernova remnant has faded.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091201.html
► Dark Sand Cascades on Mars
They might look like trees on Mars, but theyre not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost. The image was taken near the North Pole of Mars. At that time, dark sand on the interior of Martian sand dunes became more and more visible as the spring Sun melted the lighter carbon dioxide ice. When occurring near the top of a dune, dark sand may cascade down the dune leaving dark surface streaks streaks that might appear at first to be trees standing in front of the lighter regions, but cast no shadows.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100119.html
► Eclipses in the Shade
Eclipses are everywhere in this shady scene. The picture was taken on the Indian Ocean atoll island of Ellaidhoo, Maldives, in January 2010, during the longest annular solar eclipse for the next 1,000 years. Tall palm trees provided the shade. Their many crossed leaves created gaps that acted like pinhole cameras, scattering recognizable eclipse images across the white sands of a tropical garden near the beach. From this idyllic location near the centerline of the Moons shadow track, the ring of fire or annular phase of the eclipse lasted about 10 minutes and 55 seconds.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100123.html
► Dust and the NGC 7771 Group
Some 200 million light-years distant toward the constellation Pegasus, NGC 7771 is the large, edge-on spiral near center, about 75,000 light-years across, with two smaller galaxies just below it. Large spiral NGC 7769 is seen face-on to the right. Galaxies of the NGC 7771 group are interacting, making repeated close passages that will ultimately result in galaxy-galaxy mergers on a cosmic timescale.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100121.html
► Millennium Annular Solar Eclipse
The Moons shadow raced across planet Earth on January 15. Observers within the central shadow track were able to witness an annular solar eclipse as the Moons apparent size was too small to completely cover the Sun. A visually dramatic ring of fire, the annular phase lasted up to 11 minutes and 8 seconds depending on location, the longest annular solar eclipse for the next 1,000 years.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100122.html
► Himalayan Skyscape
Capella, alpha star of the constellation Auriga, rises over Mt. Everest in this panoramic view of the top of the world at night.
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091205.html
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