Europe-Japan's BepiColombo mission heads for next 'closest approach' of Mercury on June 23

The BepiColombo mission, which is a joint space program between Europe and Japan, is again set to make its closest approach to Mercury this month. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the flyby is on June 23 at 11.44 CEST (3:14 p.m. IST) when the spacecraft gets as close as 200 kilometres to Mercury's surface.

The mission consists of two spacecraft - ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MIO), both of which are fitted onto the ESA-built Mercury Transfer Module (MTM).

About the BepiColombo mission

A collaborative Mercury exploration mission, it is named after Italian astrophysicist Dr. Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo, who suggested that a spacecraft could get close to Mercury several times by using a gravity-assist swing-by of Venus. As it is located in a tight orbit around the Sun, Mercury is the least explored planet in our solar system. Through this mission, scientists of ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aim to conduct comprehensive observations of Mercury’s magnetic field, the magnetosphere, and both its surface and interior.

Scientists say that this would help them determine the commonalities of Mercury with other planets along with its origin, evolution and unique characteristics. The two probes that were launched on October 20, 2018, are expected to arrive at their destination in 2025.

Once the probes reach Mercury, they will separate from the MTM and will be inserted into different orbits. The MPO will observe Mercury's surface and interior in a 2.3-hour orbit whereas the MIO will study the magnetic fields in a 9.3-hour orbit.

BepiColombo's last flyby

The mission's last flyby was on October 2, 2021, when it flew over the planet's surface at a distance of just 199 kilometres. Johannes Benkhoff, ESA’s BepiColombo project scientist said that the "fleeting flyby" was the beginning of the mission as the PHEBUS ultraviolet spectrometer, collected data on hydrogen and calcium present in the planet’s extremely low-density atmosphere. The probes fitted in the MTM also sent several visuals recorded during their flyby. Click here to read more about it.