The first European mission to Mercury, BepiColombo, flew one last time around Earth at around 6.25am before continuing its journey to Mercury. BepiColombo launched in orbit around the sun in 2018 and uses Earth’s gravity to catapult itself to its target.
The vehicle skimmed along Earth around 12,700 kilometers away on Friday. At the right time, BepiColombo was delayed from the mission control room in Darmstadt, Germany, and the probe’s course was bent towards the center of our solar system.
To get to Mercury, the innermost planet in the solar system, a satellite needs the gravity of other planets. These maneuvers are called ‘fly by’s’. The European Space Agency ESA want to use a total of nine of these fly by’s to get BepiColombo to Mercury.
Friday’s action was the first in this series. In the next, the mission will use the gravity of the planet Venus.
BepiColombo is expected to reach Venus in October this year. In 2025, BepiColombo will reach its ultimate goal, Mercury.
Only NASA missions were close to Mercury
European BepiColombo was preceded by NASA’s Mariner 10 and Messenger missions. Mariner 10 passed three times between 1974 and 1975, and Messenger revolved around the planet from 2011 to 2015.
Mariner 10 examined the magnetic field of Mercury, as well as helium in the planet’s atmosphere. Messenger was supposed to continue Mariner 10’s research and BepiColombo should answer the questions raised by the Messenger mission.
Once at Mercury, the vehicle splits into two satellites, one of which was built by the Japanese space agency JAXA.
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