Two Mercury-Bound Spacecraft Draw Closer to Planet After Near Decade-Long Voyage
- On Thursday, the BepiColombo spacecraft separated from its Mercury Transfer Module, beginning the final leg of its nearly decade-long voyage toward Mercury.
- Launched in 2018, BepiColombo has traveled more than 6 billion miles across nine planetary flybys to reduce its energy for Mercury orbit.
- European Space Agency mission operations chief Ignacio Tanco said the spacecraft was designed to withstand 'extremely punishing' conditions, 'essentially equivalent to operating with a very hot pizza oven running right on your back.'
- With the spacecraft now 2 million miles from its destination, science operations are scheduled to begin next spring to study Mercury's magnetic field and dense interior.
- Only NASA's Messenger has previously explored this scorching planet, which mission manager Santa Martinez described earlier this week as holding 'some of the biggest mysteries of our solar system.
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La Jornada
www.eldiario.netCape Canaveral. Two spacecraft bound for Mercury left behind their mothership yesterday and faced the final stretch of their nearly a decade-long journey to the smallest planet in the solar system and the closest to the Sun.
At ESA, the maneuver creates cheer: after eight years in space, the European-Japanese mission "Bepicolombo" is creating a high-risk operation on the way to Mercury. It has already covered more than ten billion kilometres.
8 Years In, Linked Spacecraft Start Last Stretch to Mercury
Two Mercury-bound spacecraft left their mother ship behind on Thursday and headed down the home stretch of their nearly decadelong voyage to the solar system's smallest and closest-to-the-sun planet. The linked European and Japanese spacecraft separated as planned from their cruiser, the AP reports, but controllers had to wait two...
Madrid, 3 Sep (EFE).- The BepiColombo mission to Mercury has been successfully separated from the Transfer Module (MTM) that has driven the ship on its eight-year journey. Overcome this critical first moment, its two scientific satellites will continue to travel the next few months towards the orbit of the planet that will reach in 2027.The separation [...] The entry The BepiColombo mission is released from the propellants and begins the descent…
A pair of spacecraft draws closer to Mercury after nearly decade-long voyage
Two Mercury-bound spacecraft left their mother ship behind on Thursday and headed down the home stretch of their nearly decade-long voyage to the solar system's smallest and closest-to-the-sun planet.
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