BepiColombo is a joint mission of the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

(ESA) and the

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

(JAXA) to the planet Mercury. The mission comprises two satellites launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and ''Mio'' (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, MMO). The mission will perform a comprehensive study of Mercury, including characterization of its

magnetic field A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...

magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior d ...

, and both interior and surface structure. It was launched on an

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads in ...

rocket on 20 October 2018 at 01:45 UTC, with an arrival at Mercury planned for on 5 December 2025, after a flyby of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

, two flybys of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

, and six flybys of Mercury. The mission was approved in November 2009, after years in proposal and planning as part of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000+ programme; it is the last mission of the programme to be launched.

Names

''BepiColombo'' is named after Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo (1920–1984), a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosop ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, who first proposed the interplanetary

gravity assist In orbital mechanics and aerospace engineering, a gravitational slingshot, gravity assist maneuver, or swing-by is the use of the relative movement (e.g. orbit around the Sun) and gravity of a planet or other astronomical object to alter the p ...

manoeuvre used by the 1974 ''

Mariner 10 ''Mariner 10'' was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets. ''Mariner 10'' was launched approximatel ...

'' mission, a technique now used frequently by planetary probes. ''Mio'', the name of the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, was selected from thousands of suggestions by the Japanese public. In Japanese, ''Mio'' means a waterway, and according to JAXA, it symbolizes the research and development milestones reached thus far, and wishes for safe travel ahead. JAXA said the spacecraft will travel through the

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the sol ...

just like a ship traveling through the ocean. In Chinese and Japanese, Mercury is known as the "water star" (水星) according to '' wǔxíng''. Following its

flyby in April 2020, ''BepiColombo'' was briefly mistaken for a

near-Earth asteroid A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun ( perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU) ...

, receiving the

provisional designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calc ...

Mission

The mission involves three components, which will separate into independent spacecraft upon arrival at Mercury. * Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) for propulsion, built by ESA. * Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) built by ESA. * Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) or ''Mio'' built by JAXA. During the launch and cruise phases, these three components are joined together to form the Mercury Cruise System (MCS). The

prime contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

for ESA is

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is the division of Airbus SE responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation's defence and space products, while also providing related services. The division was formed in January 2014 during the ...

. ESA is responsible for the overall mission, the design, development assembly and test of the propulsion and MPO modules, and the launch. The two orbiters, which are operated by mission controllers based in Darmstadt, Germany, were successfully launched together on 20 October 2018. The launch took place on Ariane flight VA245 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The spacecraft will have a seven-year interplanetary cruise to Mercury using solar-electric propulsion (

ion thruster An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. It creates thrust by accelerating ions using electricity. An ion thruster ionizes a neutral gas by extracting some electrons out of ...

s) and

s from Earth,

and eventual gravity capture at Mercury. ESA's Cebreros, Spain 35-metre ground station is planned to be the primary ground facility for communications during all mission phases. Expected to arrive in Mercury orbit on 5 December 2025, the ''Mio'' and MPO satellites will separate and observe Mercury in collaboration for one year, with a possible one-year extension. The orbiters are equipped with scientific instruments provided by various European countries and Japan. The mission will characterize the solid and liquid iron

core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the centra ...

( of the planet's radius) and determine the size of each. The mission will also complete

gravitational In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...

and

mappings. Russia provided

gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...

and neutron spectrometers to verify the existence of water ice in polar craters that are permanently in shadow from the Sun's rays. Mercury is too small and hot for its gravity to retain any significant atmosphere over long periods of time, but it has a "tenuous surface-bounded

exosphere The exosphere ( grc, ἔξω "outside, external, beyond", grc, σφαῖρα "sphere") is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the densi ...

" containing

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-to ...

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic ta ...

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmos ...

and other trace elements. Its exosphere is not stable as atoms are continuously lost and replenished from a variety of sources. The mission will study the exosphere composition and dynamics, including generation and escape.

Objectives

The main objectives of the mission are: * Study the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star * Study Mercury's form, interior, structure, geology, composition and craters * Investigate Mercury's exosphere, composition and dynamics, including generation and escape * Study Mercury's magnetised envelope (

) – structure and dynamics * Investigate the origin of

Mercury's magnetic field Mercury's magnetic field is approximately a magnetic dipole (meaning the field has only two magnetic poles) apparently global, on planet Mercury. Data from ''Mariner 10'' led to its discovery in 1974; the spacecraft measured the field's strengt ...

* Verify Einstein's theory of

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

by measuring the parameters ''gamma'' and ''beta'' of the

parameterized post-Newtonian formalism In physics, precisely in the study of the theory of general relativity and many alternatives to it, the post-Newtonian formalism is a calculational tool that expresses Einstein's (nonlinear) equations of gravity in terms of the lowest-order devi ...

with high accuracy.

Design

The stacked spacecraft will take seven years to position itself to enter Mercury orbit. During this time it will use solar-electric propulsion and nine gravity assists, flying past the Earth and Moon in April 2020, Venus in 2020 and 2021, and six Mercury flybys between 2021 and 2025. The stacked spacecraft left Earth with a

hyperbolic Hyperbolic is an adjective describing something that resembles or pertains to a hyperbola (a curve), to hyperbole (an overstatement or exaggeration), or to hyperbolic geometry. The following phenomena are described as ''hyperbolic'' because they ...

excess velocity of . Initially, the craft was placed in a

heliocentric orbit A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun ...

similar to that of Earth. After both the spacecraft and Earth completed one and a half orbits, it returned to Earth to perform a gravity-assist maneuver and is deflected towards Venus. Two consecutive Venus flybys reduce the perihelion near to the Sun–Mercury distance with almost no need for thrust. A sequence of six Mercury flybys will lower the relative velocity to . After the fourth Mercury flyby, the craft will be in an orbit similar to that of Mercury and will remain in the general vicinity of Mercury (se

. Four final thrust arcs reduce the relative velocity to the point where Mercury will "weakly" capture the spacecraft on 5 December 2025 into

polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about ...

. Only a small maneuver is needed to bring the craft into an orbit around Mercury with an apocentre of 178,000 km. The orbiters then separate and will adjust their orbits using chemical thrusters.

History

The ''BepiColombo'' mission proposal was selected by ESA in 2000. A request for proposals for the science payload was issued in 2004. In 2007,

Astrium Astrium was an aerospace manufacturer subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that provided civil and military space systems and services from 2006 to 2013. In 2012, Astrium had a turnover of €5.8 billion and 1 ...

was selected as the prime contractor, and

chosen as the

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and sys ...

. The initial target launch of July 2014 was postponed several times, mostly because of delays on the development of the

solar electric propulsion Solar electric propulsion (SEP) refers to the combination of solar cells and electric thrusters to propel a spacecraft through outer space. This technology has been exploited in a variety of spacecraft by the European Space Agency (ESA), th ...

system. The total cost of the mission was estimated in 2017 as US$2 billion.

Schedule

Animation of BepiColombo trajectory around Mercury

, the mission schedule is: Timeline of BepiColombo

Components

Mercury Transfer Module

The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) is located at the base of the stack. Its role is to carry the two science orbiters to Mercury and to support them during the cruise. The MTM is equipped with a

system as the main spacecraft propulsion. Its four QinetiQ-T6 ion thrusters operate singly or in pairs for a maximum combined thrust of 290 mN, making it the most powerful ion engine array ever operated in space. The MTM supplies electrical power for the two hibernating orbiters as well as for its solar electric propulsion system thanks to two 14-meter-long

solar panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

. Depending on the probe's distance to the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, the generated power will range between 7 and 14 kW, each T6 requiring between 2.5 and 4.5 kW according to the desired thrust level. The

system has typically very high

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust. For engines whose reaction mass is only the fuel they carry, specific impulse is ...

and low

thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...

. This leads to a flight profile with months-long continuous low-thrust braking phases, interrupted by planetary

s, to gradually reduce the velocity of the spacecraft. Moments before Mercury orbit insertion, the MTM will be jettisoned from the spacecraft stack. After separation from the MTM, the MPO will provide ''Mio'' all necessary power and data resources until ''Mio'' is delivered to its mission orbit; separation of ''Mio'' from MPO will be accomplished by spin-ejection.

Mercury Planetary Orbiter

Radio testing of BepiColombo orbiter ESA353568

The Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) has a mass of and uses a single-sided solar array capable of providing up to 1000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s and featuring Optical Solar Reflectors to keep its temperature below . The solar array requires continuous rotation keeping the

at a low incidence angle in order to generate adequate power while at the same time limiting the temperature. The MPO will carry a payload of 11 instruments, comprising cameras, spectrometers ( IR, UV,

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

, γ-ray,

neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the atomic nucleus, nuclei of atoms. Since protons and ...

), a radiometer, a laser altimeter, a magnetometer, particle analysers, a Ka-band transponder, and an accelerometer. The payload components are mounted on the nadir side of the spacecraft to achieve low detector temperatures, apart from the MERTIS and PHEBUS spectrometers located directly at the main radiator to provide a better field of view. A high-temperature-resistant diameter high-gain antenna is mounted on a short boom on the zenith side of the spacecraft. Communications will be on the

X-band The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is rather indefinitely set at approxi ...

and Ka-band with an average bit rate of 50 kbit/s and a total data volume of 1550

Gbit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented ...

/year. ESA's Cebreros, Spain 35-metre ground station is planned to be the primary ground facility for communications during all mission phases.

Science payload

The science payload of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter consists of eleven instruments: * BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA), developed by DLR in cooperation with the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

, the

Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (abbreviation: MPS; german: Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung) is a research institute in astronomy and astrophysics located in Göttingen, Germany, where it relocated in February 201 ...

(MPS) and the

Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia ( es, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC) is a research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científ ...

. * Italian Spring

Accelerometer An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is acce ...

(ISA), developed by

* Mercury

Magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

(MPO-MAG, MERMAG), developed by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

* Mercury Radiometer and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer (MERTIS), developed by Germany * Mercury Gamma-ray and Neutron Spectrometer (MGNS), developed by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

* Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (MIXS), developed and built by the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

, the

(MPS) and the

Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics is a Max Planck Institute, located in Garching, near Munich, Germany. In 1991 the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics split up into the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial P ...

(MPE). * Mercury Orbiter Radio-science Experiment (MORE), developed by Italy and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

* Probing of Hermean

Exosphere The exosphere ( grc, ἔξω "outside, external, beyond", grc, σφαῖρα "sphere") is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the densi ...

Ultraviolet Spectroscopy Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

(PHEBUS), developed by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and Russia * Search for Exosphere Refilling and Emitted Neutral Abundances (SERENA), made up of 2 neutral and 2 ionised particle analysers: ELENA (Emitted Low-Energy Neutral Atoms) developed by Italy; STROFIO (STart from a ROtating Field mass spectrOmeter) developed by United States; MIPA (Miniature Ion Precipitation Analyser) developed by Sweden; PICAM (Planetary Ion CAMera) developed by the Space Research Institute (Institut für Weltraumforschung, IWF), Russian Space Research Institute (IKI), Institut de recherche en sciences de l'environnement (CETP/IPSL),

European Space Research and Technology Centre The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) is the European Space Agency's main technology development and test centre for spacecraft and space technology. It is situated in Noordwijk, South Holland, in the western Netherlands, al ...

(ESTEC), Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics (KFKI-RMKI) and the

(MPS). * Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory System (SIMBIO-SYS), high resolution stereo cameras and a visual and near infrared spectrometer, developed by Italy, France and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

* Solar Intensity X-ray and Particle Spectrometer (SIXS), developed by

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

and United Kingdom.

''Mio'' (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter)

''Mio'', or the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), developed and built mostly by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, has the shape of a short octagonal prism, long from face to face and high. It has a mass of , including a scientific payload consisting of 5 instrument groups, 4 for plasma and dust measuring run by investigators from Japan, and one

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. ''Mio'' will be spin stabilized at 15 rpm with the spin axis perpendicular to the equator of Mercury. It will enter a polar orbit at an altitude of , outside of MPO's orbit. The top and bottom of the octagon act as radiators with louvers for active temperature control. The sides are covered with

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

s which provide 90 watts. Communications with Earth will be through a diameter

phased array high-gain antenna and two medium-gain antennas operating in the X-band. Telemetry will return 160 Gb/year, about 5 kbit/s over the lifetime of the spacecraft, which is expected to be greater than one year. The reaction and control system is based on

cold gas thruster A cold gas thruster (or a cold gas propulsion system) is a type of rocket engine which uses the expansion of a (typically inert) pressurized gas to generate thrust. As opposed to traditional rocket engines, a cold gas thruster does not house any ...

s. After its release in Mercury orbit, ''Mio'' will be operated by

Sagamihara Space Operation Center is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 723,470, with 334,812 households, and a population density of 1,220 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Sagamihara is the third-m ...

using

Usuda Deep Space Center Usuda Deep Space Center is a facility of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. It is a spacecraft tracking station in Saku, Nagano, opened in October, 1984. The main features of the station are two large beam waveguide antennas, an older 64 ...

antenna located in Nagano, Japan.

Science payload

''Mio'' carries five groups of science instruments with a total mass of : * Mercury Plasma Particle Experiment (MPPE), studies the plasma and

neutral particle In physics, a neutral particle is a particle with no electric charge, such as a neutron. The term ''neutral particles'' should not be confused with '' truly neutral particles'', the subclass of neutral particles that are also identical to their o ...

s from the planet, its

, and the

. It will employ these instruments: ** Mercury Electron Analyzers (MEA1 and MEA2) ** Mercury Ion Analyzer (MIA) ** Mass Spectrum Analyzer (MSA), developed by Laboratory of Plasma Physics (LPP),

(MPS), IDA of

Technical University of Braunschweig The Technische Universität Braunschweig (unofficially University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology), commonly referred to as TU Braunschweig, is the oldest ' (comparable to an institute of technology in the American system) in Germany ...

and

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes which played a major role in Japan's space development. Since 2003, it is a division of Japan Aerospace E ...

(ISAS) ** High-Energy Particle instrument for electrons (HEP-ele) ** High-Energy Particle instrument for Ions (HEP-ion) ** Energetic Neutrals Analyzer (ENA) * Mercury

(MMO-MGF), studies

, magnetosphere, and interplanetary solar wind * Plasma Wave Investigation (PWI), studies the electric field, electromagnetic waves, and radio waves from the magnetosphere and solar wind * Mercury Sodium Atmosphere Spectral Imager (MSASI), studies the thin sodium atmosphere of Mercury * Mercury Dust Monitor (MDM), studies dust from the planet and interplanetary space

Mercury Surface Element (cancelled)

The Mercury Surface Element (MSE) was cancelled in 2003 due to budgetary constraints. At the time of cancellation, MSE was meant to be a small, , lander designed to operate for about one week on the surface of Mercury. Shaped as a diameter disc, it was designed to land at a latitude of 85° near the terminator region. Braking manoeuvres would bring the lander to zero velocity at an altitude of at which point the propulsion unit would be ejected, airbags inflated, and the module would fall to the surface with a maximum impact velocity of . Scientific data would be stored onboard and relayed via a cross-dipole

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

antenna to either the MPO or ''Mio''. The MSE would have carried a payload consisting of an imaging system (a descent camera and a surface camera), a heat flow and physical properties package, an

alpha particle X-ray spectrometer :''APXS is also an abbreviation for APache eXtenSion tool, an extension for Apache web servers.'' An alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) is a spectrometer that analyses the chemical element composition of a sample from scattered alpha part ...

, a

seismometer A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground noises and shaking such as caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The outpu ...

, a soil penetrating device (mole), and a micro-

rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

Artwork

As with the ''

Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese state space agency JAXA. It is a successor to the '' Hayabusa'' mission, which returned asteroid samples for the first time in June 2010. ''Hayabusa2'' was launched on 3 December ...

'' mission, the BepiColombo mission is the topic of artwork. The manga artist

Masayuki Ishikawa is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for '' Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture'' and '' Maria the Virgin Witch''; both of which were adapted into an anime television series. Career He made his debut as a manga artist in 1997 with the shor ...

created a piece featuring the character Mercury from the

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

''Madowanai Hoshi'', as well as the BepiColombo spacecraft.

References

External links

''BepiColombo'' website
by the

''BepiColombo'' Operations website
by the European Space Agency
''BepiColombo'' website
by

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

''BepiColombo'' website
by JAXA's

''BepiColombo'' website
by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

's Solar System Exploration
''BepiColombo'' website
by the

National Space Science Data Center The NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) serves as the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data. "Space science" includes astronomy and astrophysics, solar and space plasma physics, and planetary and lunar science. A ...

The BepiColombo mission to Mercury
edited by Johannes Benkhoff, Go Murakami and Ayako Matsuoka. ''Space Science Reviews''. 216–217 (2020–2021) {{2018 in space Missions to Mercury European Space Agency space probes Japanese space probes Orbiters (space probe) Space probes launched in 2018 Spacecraft launched by Ariane rockets 2018 in French Guiana

Names

Mission

Objectives

Design

History

Schedule

Components

Mercury Transfer Module

Mercury Planetary Orbiter

Science payload

''Mio'' (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter)

Science payload

Mercury Surface Element (cancelled)

Artwork

See also

References

External links