BepiColombo has completed its first attempt on a flyby on the first planet of the Solar System, Mercury, and has seen a close look at its environment. The mission was in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which has a new perspective on the fastest planet to revolve around the Sun.
BepiColombo Mercury Flyby with ESA and JAXA
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission captured this view of Mercury on 1 October 2021 as the spacecraft flew past the planet for a gravity assist maneuvre.
BepiColombo's mission is to survey Mercury and learn of the planet's structure and all that it can gather about it as it makes a flyby maneuver before its eventual return. It has recently shared information on its findings on the first planet, and it says a lot despite being the first mission that would constitute six events.
The Mercury Planet Orbiter (MPO) has seen that the device has a lot to show for the scientists, and according to NASA Spaceflight, Hydrogen and Calcium are among the leading elements present in its environment.
Neutron and Gamma rays are also present on the planet's exosphere and say a lot about the closest rock on the Sun.
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First glimpse at our #MercuryFlyby data! #Bepicolombo has sampled the magnetic and particle environment over the little explored southern hemisphere during the close flyby earlier this month 👉 https://t.co/iZdnpnTptU#ExploreFartherhttps://t.co/Z0LvXgG1R0
— BepiColombo (@BepiColombo) October 15, 2021
What is with Mercury? Bepi Shows Closer Look on Planet
An Ariane 5 lights up the sky as it lifts off from its launchpad in Kourou, at the European Space Center in French Guiana, on October 19, 2018. - The European Space Agency's (ESA) first mission to Mercury blasts off with a trio of craft heading to the planet closest to the Sun. The mission, named BepiColombo, is a joint mission of the ESA and Japan. BepiColombo is set to approach Mercury in December 2025, the mission will last until May 2027.
The gravitational pull that was evaluated by BepiColombo on Mercury has been reported by the ESA, and at 199-kilometer flyby, it was felt by the spacecraft's accelerometers.
Mercury has a lot to show for its visitors, especially as this mission is one of the closest research that is done for the First Planet.
Bepi Colombo's Journey to Mercury
Earlier this year, particularly in August, BepiColombo has first launched its spacecraft that is headed for Mercury, and it took them less than three months to get to the planet as the route it take took a long time. Originally, the travel time to the first planet would only take 40 days, but it has taken longer for it to arrive in the region.
Nevertheless, BepiColombo is already there, and it is something that has given the company a massive purpose, and it is to assist and provide the space agencies of Earth in learning more about Mercury. The company has made its first flyby, and it would be a total of six missions to survey Mercury and its surface.
The ESA spacecraft has made a lot of missions already, and instead of focusing on planets that are farther from the Sun, it went for the closest one.
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Written by Isaiah Richard
