BepiColombo-Mercury Space Probe

BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury, has experienced an issue that is preventing the spacecraft’s thrusters from operating at full power.
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A combined team from ESA and the mission’s industrial partners set to work the moment the issue was identified. By 7 May, they had restored BepiColombo’s thrust to approximately 90% of its previous level. However, the Transfer Module’s available power is still lower than it should be, and so full thrust cannot yet be restored.
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https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Suppor..._ongoing_to_restore_spacecraft_to_full_thrust
 
The ESA released this short clip showing BepiColombo's latest Mercury flyby yesterday:


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.
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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.
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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.
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The sequence ends around 24 hours later, on 5 September 2024, when BepiColombo was about 243 000 km from Mercury.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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BepiColombo is an international collaboration between ESA and JAXA.
BepiColombo’s best images yet highlight fourth Mercury flyby: https://www.esa.int/Science_Explorati...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqay1fLTJ0SlJpNnBxQmZVSTVVeHlyLXoxZDNDZ3xBQ3Jtc0tuY19hcDdTTFF2c3kxNDFWZjR4UTNmV0JlUFNLVGJkbFNVSTBOTG10VDdyTXJUUzRWT0szd241YVYtS2hiOGFOQ29sNnU1ek5CeGM0T0FWdldXUFlIbmdNejY0RmlLNExoRDJoSHJnbHlUcGF0MG9EWQ&q=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/BepiColombo_s_best_images_yet_highlight_fourth_Mercury_flyby&v=vtP92WeCVYQ
BepiColombo images in ESA’s Planetary Science: https://psa.esa.int/psa/#/pages/home
Processing notes: The BepiColombo monitoring cameras provide 1024 x 1024 pixel images. These raw images have been lightly processed. The M-CAM 1 images have been cropped to 995 x 995 pixels.
Credits: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM
Acknowledgements: Image processing and video production by Mark McCaughrean
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There was this mad theory that I read about years ago that said that Mercury should have been a lot larger than it is and that it was caused by a collision by a Mars sized planet and the result is that what we see now as Mercury is the core of a much bigger planet.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/2066780676095983927
View: https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/2066780676095983927

The end of a journey, the start of arrival ️☀️

After 8 years of solar electric propulsion, @esa's @BepiColombo switches off SEP as it enters its Mercury arrival phase!

Next? MTM separation, orbit insertion & a bold new chapter around the innermost planet!

#bepicolombo
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https://twitter.com/x/status/2066885224605028675
View: https://twitter.com/esascience/status/2066885224605028675

Thrusters off

@BepiColombo has switched off its solar electric propulsion as the trio Bepi, Mio and MTM draw closer to Mercury.

Meanwhile, on the ground, teams across @esa, @JAXA_en and industry are rehearsing the next critical step for these space adventurers: arriving at Mercury.

Stay tuned!
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Join us live from our Main Control Room on 3 September as mission controllers oversee #BepiColombo's first critical step towards orbiting Mercury: the separation of its Mercury Transfer Module (MTM).
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More info: http://esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Watch_live_BepiColombo_begins_its_arrival_at_Mercury

▶️ Livestream starts at 13:45 CEST

http://youtube.com/live/oC7lQngNG3o

https://twitter.com/x/status/2094408876158296551
View: https://twitter.com/esa/status/2094408876158296551
 
The ESA released this short video 15 hours ago concerning BepiColombo's final approach to Mercury:


For decades, Mercury has been a challenging target for exploration. Orbiting deep within the Sun's powerful gravitational grip, it is a world of extremes and enduring mysteries.

Now, after an eight-year journey spanning nine planetary flybys, the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission, BepiColombo, is finally approaching the rocky planet and preparing for its most demanding phase yet: Mercury arrival.

The first major milestone in this carefully choreographed sequence is the separation of the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) on 3 September 2026.

This critical step is the first in a challenging arrival campaign that will ultimately place Europe’s and Japan’s first Mercury orbiters around the Solar System’s innermost planet. Both spacecraft will begin their scientific studies of Mercury and its surrounding environment in April 2027.​

Learn more about BepiColombo: https://www.esa.int/Science_Explorati...
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Michel Van said:
ESA confirm that the Orbiters separated from the Mercury Transfer Module
the Orbiters reach Mercury orbit at November 21, 2026
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Does the MTM have any science instruments of its' own or will it just continue on in its' heliocentric orbit powered down?
 
NMaude said:
Does the MTM have any science instruments of its' own or will it just continue on in its' heliocentric orbit powered down?
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sadly not
MTM has none instrument and computer and communication system !
it was controlled by BepiColombo flight computer

i consider this total waste
MTM could have explore soundings of Mercury Orbit and the Sun like HELIOS probe.
 

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