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BepiColombo Spacecraft Makes Second Gravity Assist of Planet Mercury – Captures Spectacular Close-Ups

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. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 3, when the spacecraft was 1406 km (874 miles) from the surface of Mercury. Closest approach of 200 km (124 miles) took place shortly before, at 09:44 UTC. In this view, north is up. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The ESA/JAXAFormed in 2003, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was born through the merger of three institutions, namely the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). JAXA performs various activities related to aerospace, from basic research in the aerospace field to development and utilization and is responsible for research, technology development, and launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>JAXA BepiColombo mission has made its second gravity assist of planet Mercury, capturing new close-up images as it steers closer towards Mercury orbit in 2025.

The closest approach took place at 09:44 UTCCoordinated Universal Time or Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. Prior to 1972, this time was called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and is also known as "Z time" or "Zulu Time."  It is, within about 1 second, mean solar time at 0° longitude.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>UTC (11:44 CEST) on June 23, 2022, about 200 km (124 miles) above the planet’s surface. Images from the spacecraft’s three monitoring cameras (MCAM), along with scientific data from a number of instruments, were collected during the encounter. The MCAM images, which provide black-and-white snapshots in 1024 x 1024 pixel resolution, were downloaded over the course of yesterday afternoon, and a selection is presented here (click images to expand captions for more details).

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A beautiful sequence of 56 images taken by the monitoring cameras on board the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission as the spacecraft made its second close flyby of its destination planet Mercury on June 23, 2022.

“We have completed our second of six Mercury flybys and will be back this time next year for our third before arriving in Mercury orbit in 2025,” says Emanuela Bordoni, ESA’s BepiColombo Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager.

Because BepiColombo’s closest approach was on the planet’s nightside, the first images in which Mercury is illuminated were taken at around five 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 away from the planet again.

BepiColombo Sunrise and Shadows

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. This image was taken at 09:48:22 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 1 (MCAM-1) when the spacecraft was 680 km (420 miles) from Mercury, the first image capturing the illuminated surface of Mercury during 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 of the planet, casting shadows along the terminator – the boundary between night and day – and highlighting the topography of the terrain in dramatic fashion.

Jack Wright, a member of the MCAM team, and a research fellow based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid, helped to plan the imaging sequence for the flyby. He said: “I punched the air when the first images came down, and I only got more and more excited after that. The images show beautiful details of Mercury, including one of my favourite craters, Heaney, for which I suggested the name a few years ago.”

BepiColombo Surveys Mercury's Rich Geology

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. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s 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) wide crater covered in smooth volcanic plains. It hosts a rare example of a candidate volcano on Mercury, which will be an important target for BepiColombo’s high-resolution imaging suite once in orbit.

Just a few minutes after closest approach and with the Sun shining from above, Mercury’s largest impact feature, the 1550 km (960 mile) wide Caloris basin swung into view for the first time, its highly-reflective lavas on its floor making it stand out against the darker background. The volcanic lavas in and around Caloris are thought to post-date the formation of the basin itself by a hundred million years or so, and measuring and understanding the compositional differences between these is an important goal for BepiColombo.

“Mercury flyby 1 images were good, but flyby 2 images are even better,” commented David Rothery of the Open University who leads ESA’s Mercury Surface & Composition Working Group and who is also a member of the MCAM team. “The images highlight many of the science goals that we can address when BepiColombo gets into orbit. I want to understand the volcanic and tectonic history of this amazing planet.”

BepiColombo First Sighting of Caloris

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. This image was taken at 09:55:32 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 2, when the spacecraft was 2862 km (1778 miles) from the surface of Mercury. In this view, north is approximately towards the top right. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

BepiColombo will build on the data collected by NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion."” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>NASA’s Messenger mission that orbited Mercury 2011-2015. BepiColombo’s two science orbiters – ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter – will operate from complementary orbits to study all aspects of mysterious Mercury from its core to surface processes, magnetic field, and exosphere, to better understand the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star.

Even though BepiColombo is currently in ‘stacked’ cruise configuration, meaning many instruments cannot be fully operated during the brief flybys, they can still grab insights into the magnetic, plasmaPlasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter, along with solid, liquid, and gas. It is an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons. It was first described by chemist Irving Langmuir in the 1920s.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>plasma, and particle environment around the spacecraft, from locations not normally accessible during an orbital mission.

BepiColombo Timeline

Timeline of flybys during BepiColombo’s 7.2 year journey to Mercury. Credit: ESA

“Our instrument teams on both spacecraft have started receiving their science data and we’re looking forward to sharing our first insights from this flyby,” says Johannes Benkhoff, ESA’s BepiColombo project scientist. “It will be interesting to compare the data with what we collected on our first flyby, and add to this unique dataset as we build towards our main mission.”

BepiColombo’s main science mission will begin in early 2026. It is making use of nine planetary flybys in total: one at Earth, two at VenusVenus, the second planet from the sun, is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the moon, it is the second-brightest natural object in the night sky. Its rotation (243 Earth days) takes longer than its orbit of the Sun (224.7 Earth days). It is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because of their similar composition, size, mass, and proximity to the Sun. It has no natural satellites.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>Venus, and six at Mercury, together with the spacecraft’s solar electric propulsion system, to help steer into Mercury orbit. Its next Mercury flyby will take place on June 20, 2023.

Annotated versions of the images above:

BepiColombo Search for Volcanoes Annotated

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. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 3, when the spacecraft was 1406 km (874 miles) from the surface of Mercury. Closest approach of 200 km (124 miles) took place shortly before, at 09:44 UTC. In this view, north is up. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

BepiColombo Sunrise and Shadows Annotated

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. This image was taken at 09:48:22 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 1 (MCAM-1) when the spacecraft was 680 km (420 miles) from Mercury, the first image capturing the illuminated surface of Mercury during the flyby. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

BepiColombo Surveys Mercury's Rich Geology Annotated

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. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s 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

BepiColombo First Sighting of Caloris Annotated

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. This image was taken at 09:55:32 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 2, when the spacecraft was 2862 km (1778 miles) from the surface of Mercury. In this view, north is approximately towards the top right. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Source: SciTechDaily