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A pair of spacecraft draw closer to Mercury after nearly decade-long voyage
The European-Japanese mission will spend about six months in Mercury arrival operations before science begins in April 2027, officials said.
- The Mercury Transfer Module will separate from the BepiColombo spacecraft stack today, Thursday, at 8 a.m. ET, marking a critical milestone for the European Space Agency's mission to Mercury.
- Jointly operated by the ESA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency , the mission deploys two independent spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter to observe the planet's surface, and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter to study the space environment.
- The spacecraft faces extreme conditions, with surface temperatures reaching 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Ignacio Tanco, head of Inner Solar System Mission Operations at the ESA, said the environment is "essentially equivalent to operating with a very hot pizza oven running right on your back."
- Scientists hope to probe mysteries including surface depressions called hollows and investigate why Mercury is so dense for its size, according to Geraint Jones, lead project scientist for BepiColombo at the ESA.
- The orbiters will be captured by Mercury's gravity on November 21, then separate and enter their final orbital positions by March before science operations officially begin in April.
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After an Eight-Year Journey, Two Spacecraft Have Begun Their Arrival to Mercury, the Inner Solar System's Most Mysterious Planet
The BepiColombo mission, by the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is only the third to study our smallest planetary neighbor
·Washington, United States
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After almost eight years of flight time, the European-Japanese probe "Bepicolombo" steers towards Mercury. This is one of the next planets on Earth. But why does the journey there take so long?
The space probe "Bepicolombo" began its approach to the planet Mercury after an eight-year journey through space.
·Germany
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Total News Sources141
Leaning Left37Leaning Right12Center73Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Center
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources are Center
60% Center
L 30%
C 60%
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