The two connected probes, known together as BepiColombo, snapped their very first image of Mercury late Friday (Oct. 1) throughout a flyby that sent them zooming around the planet. BepiColombo took its very first main photo of Mercury at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT) with its Mercury Transfer Module Monitoring Camera 2, a black-and-white navigation video camera, as the probe was about 1,502 miles (2,418 kilometers) away from the planet, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). ESAs contribution is the Mercury Planetary Orbiter to study the planet from above while the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will study the worlds magnetic field, plasma environment and dust.The two orbiters are riding to their target world on the Mercury Transfer Module on a seven-year trip that started with a launch in 2018.
The two connected probes, known together as BepiColombo, snapped their very first image of Mercury late Friday (Oct. 1) throughout a flyby that sent them zooming around the world. BepiColombo took its first official photo of Mercury at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT) with its Mercury Transfer Module Monitoring Camera 2, a black-and-white navigation cam, as the probe was about 1,502 miles (2,418 kilometers) away from the planet, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). ESAs contribution is the Mercury Planetary Orbiter to study the planet from above while the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, constructed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will study the worlds magnetic field, plasma environment and dust.The 2 orbiters are riding to their target planet on the Mercury Transfer Module on a seven-year journey that started with a launch in 2018.