The European Space Agency’s (ESA) BepiColombo spacecraft has completed its sixth and final flyby of Mercury, gathering valuable data on the smallest planet in our solar system. During the flyby, instruments measured Mercury’s magnetic field and captured stunning images of its rocky surface.
The mission has been a success, with six flybys since 2021 studying features such as craters and the planet’s magnetic field. One notable crater, ‘Stoddart’, was named after renowned New Zealand artist Margaret Olrog Stoddart and is estimated to be nearly 100 miles across. Other large craters include Caloris Basin, Hokusai, Shakespeare, and Vivaldi.
Despite temperatures reaching 800°F during the day, the ESA believes that shadowy craters may contain ice. The spacecraft’s instruments have revealed a crater-filled surface with previous lava flows, providing insights into Mercury’s geological history.
BepiColombo will continue its journey towards Mercury’s orbit, where it will study the planet’s surface and magnetic field in greater detail for at least a year. The main science phase of the mission is expected to begin in 2027, with the spacecraft’s instruments revealing new insights into the solar system’s most mysterious planet.
The ESA has taken advantage of Mercury’s gravitational pull to slow down the spacecraft, overcoming limited propulsion produced by its electric thrusters. With two years left until the mission’s main science phase, scientists are eagerly anticipating the flyby’s findings and expect it to provide beautiful images and important scientific insights into the least-explored terrestrial planet.
Source: https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/bepicolombo-europe-mercury