” We have actually finished our second of 6 Mercury flybys and will be back this time next year for our 3rd before arriving in Mercury orbit in 2025,” states Emanuela Bordoni, ESAs BepiColombo Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager.
Since BepiColombos closest method was on the worlds nightside, the first images in which Mercury is illuminated were taken at around 5 minutes after close approach, at a distance of about 800 km (500 miles). Images were taken for about 40 minutes after the close approach as the spacecraft moved far from the world again.
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission caught this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of 6 gravity help maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:48:22 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 1 (MCAM-1) when the spacecraft was 680 km (420 miles) from Mercury, the first image recording the brightened surface of Mercury throughout the flyby. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
As BepiColombo flew from the nightside to dayside, the Sun seemingly rose over the cratered surface area of the world, casting shadows along the terminator– the border between night and day– and highlighting the topography of the surface in significant fashion.
Jack Wright, a member of the MCAM group, and a research fellow based at ESAs European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid, assisted to prepare the imaging sequence for the flyby. He said: “I punched the air when the very first images came down, and I only got increasingly more excited after that. The images show lovely information of Mercury, consisting of among my preferred craters, Heaney, for which I recommended the name a couple of years ago.”
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo objective captured this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of 6 gravity help maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 3, when the spacecraft was 1406 km (874 miles) from the surface of Mercury. In this view, north is up. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Heaney is a 125 km (78 mile) large crater covered in smooth volcanic plains. It hosts an uncommon example of a candidate volcano on Mercury, which will be an important target for BepiColombos high-resolution imaging suite when in orbit.
Just a few minutes after closest method and with the Sun shining from above, Mercurys largest impact feature, the 1550 km (960 mile) large Caloris basin swung into view for the first time, its highly-reflective lavas on its flooring making it stand out against the darker background. The volcanic lavas around Caloris are thought to post-date the development of the basin itself by a hundred million years or so, and measuring and comprehending the compositional distinctions in between these is an important goal for BepiColombo.
” Mercury flyby 1 images were good, however flyby 2 images are even much better,” commented David Rothery of the Open University who leads ESAs Mercury Surface & & Composition Working Group and who is also a member of the MCAM team. “The images highlight a number of the science objectives that we can resolve when BepiColombo enters orbit. I desire to understand the volcanic and tectonic history of this remarkable world.”
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo objective caught this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of six gravity help maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:55:32 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 2, when the spacecraft was 2862 km (1778 miles) from the surface area of Mercury.
BepiColombo will develop on the information collected by NASAs Messenger mission that orbited Mercury 2011-2015. BepiColombos 2 science orbiters– ESAs Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXAs Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter– will operate from complementary orbits to study all aspects of mysterious Mercury from its core to surface processes, electromagnetic field, and exosphere, to much better comprehend the origin and advancement of a planet near to its parent star.
Despite the fact that BepiColombo is presently in stacked cruise configuration, implying numerous instruments can not be fully run throughout the quick flybys, they can still grab insights into the magnetic, plasma, and particle environment around the spacecraft, from places not typically accessible during an orbital objective.
Timeline of flybys throughout BepiColombos 7.2 year journey to Mercury. Credit: ESA
” Our instrument teams on both spacecraft have actually begun receiving their science data and were anticipating sharing our first insights from this flyby,” says Johannes Benkhoff, ESAs BepiColombo task scientist. “It will be intriguing to compare the data with what we collected on our first flyby, and add to this special dataset as we build towards our main objective.”
BepiColombos main science objective will start in early 2026. It is making usage of 9 planetary flybys in overall: one at Earth, 2 at Venus, and six at Mercury, together with the spacecrafts solar electric propulsion system, to assist steer into Mercury orbit. Its next Mercury flyby will occur on June 20, 2023.
Annotated variations of the images above:
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission recorded this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second of 6 gravity assist maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 3, when the spacecraft was 1406 km (874 miles) from the surface area of Mercury. Closest approach of 200 km (124 miles) happened shortly previously, at 09:44 UTC. In this view, north is up. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo objective recorded this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of six gravity help maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:48:22 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 1 (MCAM-1) when the spacecraft was 680 km (420 miles) from Mercury, the very first image recording the illuminated surface of Mercury during the flyby. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission captured this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of six gravity assist maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 3, when the spacecraft was 1406 km (874 miles) from the surface area of Mercury.
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo objective recorded this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second of 6 gravity assist maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:55:32 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 2, when the spacecraft was 2862 km (1778 miles) from the surface of Mercury.
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission captured this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second of six gravity assist maneuvers at Mercury. The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission recorded this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of 6 gravity help maneuvers at Mercury. The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission recorded this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second of six gravity help maneuvers at Mercury. The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo objective captured this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of six gravity help maneuvers at Mercury. The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo objective captured this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second of 6 gravity help maneuvers at Mercury.
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo objective caught this view of Mercury on June 23, 2022, as the spacecraft flew past the world for its second of six gravity assist maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Modules Monitoring Camera 3, when the spacecraft was 1406 km (874 miles) from the surface of Mercury. Closest technique of 200 km (124 miles) occurred quickly previously, at 09:44 UTC. In this view, north is up. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo objective has made its second gravity assist of planet Mercury, catching new close-up images as it steers better towards Mercury orbit in 2025.
The closest method happened at 09:44 UTC (11:44 CEST) on June 23, 2022, about 200 km (124 miles) above the planets surface. Images from the spacecrafts three keeping track of video cameras (MCAM), along with scientific data from a variety of instruments, were collected throughout the encounter. The MCAM images, which provide black-and-white pictures in 1024 x 1024 pixel resolution, were downloaded throughout yesterday afternoon, and a choice is provided here (click images to broaden captions for more information).
A stunning sequence of 56 images taken by the tracking electronic cameras on board the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo objective as the spacecraft made its second close flyby of its destination world Mercury on June 23, 2022.
