posted 04-03-2015 01:24 PM               

This topic is for comments and questions in response to the updates under: ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury.

The BepiColombo mission comprises the ESA-led Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA-led Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, as well as a carrier spacecraft, known as the Mercury Transfer Module.

posted 04-03-2015 01:39 PM               

A recurring question during the development of BepiColombo has therefore been to identify the science issues for which there will be a major delta in knowledge after Messenger.

BepiColombo implements a two spacecraft concept: a nadir pointing, low eccentricity spacecraft, the MPO, for investigating at close range the planet Mercury itself and its inner exosphere, and a high eccentricity spacecraft, the MMO, dedicated to studies of the global exosphere and magnetosphere of the planet. The comprehensive dedicated payload and spinning attitude of the BepiColombo MMO gives it a clear-cut advantage over the 3-axis pointing Messenger spacecraft for studying the environment of the planet.

There are significant deltas between the Bepicolombo MPO and Messenger in terms of payload, in particular a thermal IR imaging spectrometer and a much higher accuracy positioning thanks to a dual uplink- downlink in X and Ka bands.

The strongest assets of the MPO are however its low eccentricity orbit, nadir pointing mode and much higher data rate. The low eccentricity orbit and nadir pointing mode provides global coverage at similar spatial resolutions. The low eccentricity orbit also increases by a large factor the average counting rates of the gamma-ray and X-ray spectrometers compared to the much higher apocenter distance of Messenger. The much higher data rate has a direct impact on effective spatial resolution.

One of the main science asset of BepiColombo will be the simultaneous investigations of the planet and its environment, as important issues such as the intense space weathering expected on Mercury, the impact of the dipolar field on the magnetosphere or the closure of magnetospheric currents at the very surface of the planet for lack of an ionosphere require close cooperation between these two types of investigations.

The conclusion is that there is a lot of science ground to cover for what is by far the least well known of inner planetary bodies with a sequence of two missions with different scopes and resources, Messenger and BepiColombo.

posted 02-28-2018 09:49 AM               

It has long been the intention of the MMO project members to give MMO a "real" name and replace the original, somewhat dry and technical designation.

We are looking for the right name for the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), whose upcoming launch is in October 2018, that will give a relatable and familiar nickname so that everyone can follow our journey to Mercury.

The person who suggests the selected name will recieve a certificate and souvenir!

We are searching for people all over the world who are passionate about BepiColombo's journey to explore Mercury to provide messages, illustrations, audio, video and other media. A selection of these will be recorded and loaded onto the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) before it begins the journey towards our Solar System's innermost planet. We are looking for messages as glowing as the incandescent planet of Mercury!

posted 06-11-2018 11:32 AM               

The definition of the word mio in the original Japanese is a waterway or fairway. It is a fitting name denoting how far the MMO mission has come, navigating its course past important research and development milestones. It also carries the connotation of wishing the spacecraft a safe journey.

posted 10-19-2018 11:13 PM               

BepiColombo lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket at 01:45 GMT on 20 October 2018.

posted 10-20-2018 06:01 PM               

The BepiColombo Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) has returned its first image from space.

The view looks along one of the extended solar arrays, which was deployed earlier this morning and confirmed by telemetry. The structure in the bottom left corner is one of the sun sensors on the MTM, with the multi-layered insulation clearly visible.

The transfer module is equipped with three monitoring cameras, which provide black-and-white snapshots in 1024 x 1024 pixel resolution. The other two cameras will be activated tomorrow and are expected to capture images of the deployed medium- and high-gain antennas onboard the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO).

The monitoring cameras will be used on various occasions during the cruise phase, notably during the flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury. While the MPO is equipped with a high-resolution scientific camera, this can only be operated after separating from the MTM upon arrival at Mercury in late 2025 because, like several of the 11 instrument suites, it is located on the side of the spacecraft fixed to the MTM during cruise.

posted 08-16-2021 12:32 PM               

The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft flew past Venus on 9 August at a distance of 7995 km, while the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission skimmed past at just 552 km from the planet's surface on 10 August. The flybys were needed to give the spacecraft a gravity assist to help them reach their next destinations.

BepiColombo will make the first of six flybys at Mercury during the night of 1-2 October, before entering orbit in 2025.

posted 09-13-2024 05:37 PM               

Watch the closest flyby of a planet ever, as the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft sped past Mercury during its latest encounter on 4 September 2024.

This flyby marked BepiColombo's closest approach to Mercury yet, and for the first time, the spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury's south pole.

This timelapse is made up of 128 different images captured by all three of BepiColombo's monitoring cameras, M-CAM 1, 2 and 3. We see the planet move in and out of the fields of view of M-CAM 2 and 3, before M-CAM 1 sees the planet receding into the distance at the end of the video.

The first few images are taken in the days and weeks before the flyby. Mercury first appears in an image taken at 23:50 CEST (21:50 UTC) on 4 September, at a distance of 191 km. Closest approach was at 23:48 CEST at a distance of 165 km.

The sequence ends around 24 hours later, on 5 September 2024, when BepiColombo was about 243 000 km from Mercury.

During the flyby it was possible to identify various geological features that BepiColombo will study in more detail once in orbit around the planet. Four minutes after closest approach, a large 'peak ring basin' called Vivaldi came into view.

This crater was named after the famous Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). The flyover of Vivaldi crater was the inspiration for using Antonio Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' as the soundtrack for this timelapse.

Peak ring basins are mysterious craters created by powerful asteroid or comet impacts, so-called because of the inner ring of peaks on an otherwise flattish floor.

A couple of minutes later, another peak ring basin came into view: newly named Stoddart. The name was recently assigned following a request from the M-CAM team, who realised that this crater would be visible in these images and decided it would be worth naming considering its potential interest for scientists in the future.

BepiColombo's three monitoring cameras provided 1024 x 1024 pixel snapshots. Their main purpose is to monitor the spacecraft's various booms and antennas, hence why we see parts of the spacecraft in the foreground. The photos that they capture of Mercury during the flybys are a bonus.

The 4 September gravity assist flyby was the fourth at Mercury and the seventh of nine planetary flybys overall. During its eight-year cruise to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System, BepiColombo makes one flyby at Earth, two at Venus and six at Mercury, to help steer itself on course for entering orbit around Mercury in 2026.