BepiColombo photographed Mercury for the first time
(ESA/JAXA)
The BepiColombo mission successfully completed the first gravitational maneuver near their Mercury, flying at a minimum distance of 199 kilometers from the planet.
During the flight, the spacecraft received a number of images of the surface of Mercury and other scientific data.
BepiColombo is the third interplanetary mission to explore Mercury.
It launched in October 2018, when the European MPO (Mercury Planetary Orbiter), the Japanese MMO (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) and the MTM flight module, which will deliver the vehicles to the planet, went into space.
After arriving at Mercury, the spacecraft will explore its surface, look for ice deposits, determine the structure of the planet and the properties of its magnetosphere and exosphere.
For three years, "BepiColombo" made several gravity assist maneuvers near the Earth and Venus, and on October 1 the vehicle performed the first gravity assist maneuver near Mercury.
The spacecraft found itself at a minimum distance of 199 kilometers from the planet's surface. During the flight, scientific instruments collected data about the planet.
However, the survey was carried out only from a distance of about a thousand kilometers from Mercury, since the flight passed over the night side of the planet.
The resulting frames show the craters and plains of the planet, as well as elements of the devices, like antennas.
The main scientific program will begin in early 2026 and will last for a year.
Until that moment, the spacecraft will have to make five more flights past Mercury, and in December 2025, the probes will enter working polar orbits.
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