A spacecraft built in the UK has captured new images of Mercury ahead of its entry into orbit in 2026. BepiColombo, launched in 2018 by Astrium (now Airbus), comprises two satellites that will gather data for at least a year.
The monitoring cameras on board the spacecraft snapped images of the planet as it flew 295km above Mercury’s surface, revealing views of its north poles and showing how sunlight interacts with the planet. This flyby marks the last time these cameras will capture close-up images of Mercury before they separate from the spacecraft module and enter orbit.
BepiColombo aims to determine what Mercury is made of and whether water could exist in some of its deepest craters. The spacecraft had to complete nine flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury to reach the required speed for capture by Mercury’s gravity.
According to Frank Budnik, BepiColombo flight dynamics manager, “Six of our Mercury flybys have given us invaluable new information about this little-explored planet.” Geraint Jones, BepiColombo project scientist at the European Space Agency, added that the team will work hard to unravel many of Mercury’s mysteries using data from this flyby.
This flyby provides a significant step forward in understanding Mercury before its orbit entrance in 2026.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2v2r1jm7go