After 8 Years in Space, ‘BepiColombo’ Is Finally Approaching Mercury
The BepiColombo spacecraft has successfully separated its propulsion module, marking the final phase of its long journey to Mercury. The mission, a collaboration between ESA and JAXA, aims to study the planet's surface, internal structure, and magnetic field.
Why it matters
Advancing our understanding of Mercury provides critical insights into the formation of the solar system and the challenges of planetary exploration.
On September 3, ground control confirmed that the propulsion module had successfully separated from the rest of the craft, marking the final phase of the joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). After a bumpy journey—reaching more than 200 million kilometers from Earth—transmissions from the probe indicated all went smoothly.
Mercury has only been explored twice before, both times by NASA probes. Because even without propulsion mishaps, Mercury is especially challenging to reach due to it’s position as the closest planet to our sun. When traveling towards the center of our solar system, a spacecraft is essentially “falling” from Earth towards the much greater gravity of the sun. That’s the easy part. The hard part is to not keep falling. Getting to Mercury therefore requires a lot of fuel not to travel there but to engage rockets to put on the breaks.
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