Table of Contents
BEPICOLOMBO
- BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the planet Mercury.
- The mission comprises two satellites launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, MMO)
THE MISSION
The mission will perform a comprehensive study of Mercury, including its magnetic field, magnetosphere, interior structure and surface.
IT’LL TAKE A WHILE
The spacecraft will have a seven-year interplanetary cruise to Mercury using solar-electric propulsion (ion thrusters) and gravity assists from Earth, Venus and eventual gravity capture at Mercury.
WHAT’S WITH THE NAME?
BepiColombo is named after Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo (1920–1984), a scientist, mathematician and engineer at the University of Padua, Italy, who first implemented the interplanetary gravity-assist manoeuvre during the 1974 Mariner 10 mission, a technique now commonly used by planetary probes.
MERCURY THE PLANET MERCURY THE PLANET
Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Its orbital period around the Sun of 87.97 days is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System. It is named after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger of the gods.
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