ARCHIVOVANÝ OBSAH
14 ČVN. 2023
Datum vydání
14676
Zobrazení
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is gearing up for its next close flyby of Mercury on 19 June, when it will pass the planet’s surface at an altitude of about 236 km.
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Okno médií
Flybys and thrusters
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Okno médií
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Cosmic slingshot
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Okno médií
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Okno médií
Tastes of science
While many instruments have been activated during the cruise phase, some will also operate during the flyby, providing another tantalising glimpse of the Mercury science expected during the main mission. Magnetic, plasma and particle monitoring instruments will sample the environment before, during and after closest approach.
This will be the first flyby for which the BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA) and Mercury Orbiter Radio-science Experiment (MORE) will be switched on, albeit in the case of BELA for functional test purposes only. Once in Mercury orbit, BELA will measure the shape of Mercury’s surface, and MORE will investigate Mercury’s gravitational field and core.
“Collecting data during flybys is extremely valuable for the science teams to check their instruments are functioning correctly ahead of the main mission,” says ESA’s BepiColombo project scientist Johannes Benkhoff. “It also provides a novel opportunity to compare with data collected by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft during its 2011–2015 mission at Mercury from complementary locations around the planet not usually accessible from orbit. We are delighted to already have data published based on our previous flybys that generated new science results, which makes us even more excited to get into orbit!”
Upon arrival at Mercury in December 2025, BepiColombo's two science modules – ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) – will separate from the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) and enter complementary orbits around the planet.
The main science camera is shielded until the spacecraft modules separate but during flybys snapshots are taken by BepiColombo's monitoring cameras.
A unique selfie
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Okno médií
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Follow the flyby
After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called 'thrust arcs' to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and manoeuvre optimisation.
Okno médií
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