:strip_icc()/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2021/j/p/ncijXDSGeuZnu7UPdgMA/1.jpeg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "BepiColombo: space mission to Mercury releases first images | Science")
The BepiColombo mission sent its first photo of Mercury, the innermost planet in the Solar System.
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The spacecraft took the image shortly after flying over the small planet at an altitude of just 200 kilometers.
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European and Japanese mission releases first images of the planet Mercury
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Controllers plan five more flyovers, and they want to increasingly use Mercury’s gravity to help control the spacecraft’s speed.
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The goal is for BepiColombo to move slowly enough to eventually assume a stable orbit around the planet. This goal must be achieved by the end of 2025.
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The first photo of the mission to Mercury was taken by a low-resolution monitoring camera located on the side of the probe.. At the current stage, Bepi is not yet ready to deploy and use its high-resolution scientific cameras — these equipment are “hidden” within the spacecraft structure.
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Bepi is essentially two spacecraft in one.
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Illustration of BepiColombo, which has five more flyovers planned before entering orbit — Photo: ESA/ATG MEDIALAB
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The first part was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). The second comes from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa). The way in which these two components were “packed” for the trip to Mercury obstructs, for now, the openings through which the main cameras operate.
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This means that the first images of the mission to mercury they were acquired by a pair of monitoring or engineering cameras mounted on the outside of the ship — it’s like “selfie cameras” — that are good enough to already detect some features of the planet’s surface.
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These simple black-and-white photos began arriving back on Earth on Saturday (2/10), and ESA is expected to release new images throughout the first few days of October. On Monday (4/10), it is likely that the European agency will have enough footage to make a short video.
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Although Bepi is a long way from starting the proper scientific operations, some of the probe’s instruments were turned on to carry out the flyover. Phenomena such as magnetic fields and some particles could already be detected, even in the spacecraft’s current configuration.
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In the infographic in English released by ESA, it is possible to see the different structures of BepiColombo. From left to right: Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) from Europe, a solar shield, and finally the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) from Japan. The MPO and MMO will split up and have different ‘missions’ on the planet — Photo: ESA
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“We are going to analyze the data,” said Suzie Imber, a researcher at the University of Leicester, UK, “but the aim of the current flyover, and the six others that will be carried out, is to help us change the trajectory [da espaçonave] and slow down.”
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“Eventually, by December 2025, both the spacecraft and Mercury will be in the same place and in the same direction. From then on, we will finally be able to separate our spacecraft into two parts and enter into orbit,” said the scientist who integrates the mission to the BBC .
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But, even at this early stage of the flyover series, it is already possible to carry out an initial data collection.
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For the scientists behind the UK Mercury Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer, or MIXS, this was an opportunity to better understand the performance of their instruments.
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MIXS detectors have picked up a general noise from energetic particles known as cosmic rays.
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“As we get very close to Mercury and part of the sky is blocked by the planet, we should have a drop in some of this noise we receive, and that will help us better identify what these galactic cosmic rays are that we detect,” explained Imber.
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The exercise will ensure that the mission team gets the most out of MIXS when they eventually start observing the planet at the end of the decade.
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This first flyover will have placed Bepi on a 2-3 resonance with Mercury. In other words, this means that Mercury will circle the Sun three times, while Bepi will circle the Sun twice..
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It is worth noting here that one year of Mercury, or the time it takes to make a complete circle around the Sun, is the equivalent of 88 days on Earth.
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The next overflight, scheduled for June next year, will decelerate this rate once again. It will then have a resonance of 3-4: Bepi will complete three turns around the Sun, while Mercury will make this trajectory four times.
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The remaining overflights, which will take place in June 2023, September 2024, December 2024 and January 2025, should finally put Bepi on the same resonance as Mercury. Thus, it will be possible to start full scientific operations from 2026.
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What investigations will BepiColombo carry out in Mercury?
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The two spacecraft structures developed by Europeans and Japanese will separate when they enter orbit on the planet closest to the Sun. From there, they will perform different functions.
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Europe’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) is designed to map the terrain of Mercury, generate surface height profiles, collect data on the planet’s structure and composition, and detect what’s inside it.
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Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will prioritize the study of Mercury’s magnetic field. He will investigate the behavior of the field and its interaction with the “solar wind”, the undulating mass of particles that flow from the Sun. This wind interacts with Mercury’s atmosphere, hurling atoms in a tail that extends through space.
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It is hoped that parallel observations from satellites will finally solve the many puzzles about this planet.
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One of the main issues concerns the oversized iron core, which represents 60% of Mercury’s mass. Science still cannot explain the reasons why this planet has only a thin rock layer.
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“When we go into orbit, we’ll start studying the magnetic field and surface of Mercury, which reaches temperatures of up to 450 °C (the equivalent of a pizza oven), and still has surface water in some places,” says Mark McCaughrean , ESA’s senior advisor for science and exploration, told BBC News.
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“Mercury has a huge metal core. It’s much denser than expected for its size. We just don’t understand how this planet got the way it is. There are huge mysteries about its origin and that’s what BepiColombo intends to do. study”, completes the researcher.
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The MPO, from Europe, was assembled largely in the United Kingdom, by the company Airbus.
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