BepiColombo, a joint Europe-Japan mission, will explore Mercury from orbit. But the probe will fly behind it five more times before finally swinging into orbit around the planet in December 2025.
This brake maneuver can be used in a fuel efficient manner. With each flight, the BepiColombo releases orbital energy to Mercury – making it a bit slower. In four years, the probe will have approximately the same speed as the planet and will be captured by Mercury.
It’s like jumping on a moving tram: it works best at roughly the same speed.
Fake color image of the innermost planet Mercury (NASA/Messenger probe)
To brake adequately without normal assistance, the probe requires a lot of additional fuel – hence the whole task will be more expensive.
Italian mathematician Giuseppe, better known as Pepe, Colombo, came up with the idea for this “Gravity Assist” method in 1970. He showed NASA that their Mariner probe could fly ten and three times instead of once after Mercury if it lost some momentum on Venus. previously.
It is difficult to visualize a planet’s mission without the aid of gravity. And thanks, the ESA investigation is named “The Inventor”. BepiColombo braked five more times on Mercury – and it finally arrived.
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