Tag: Mercury
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Space Science in 2026: New lunar explorers, Mars missions, and space telescopes
With many missions on the manifest, the new year promises to be packed with space science. Two interplanetary spacecraft will arrive at their destinations as another Mars window opens in late 2026. Meanwhile, multiple space telescopes have their launch dates set for this year, and the schedule promises an increased cadence for lunar missions. The…
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60 years after Gemini, newly processed images reveal incredible details
Six decades have now passed since some of the most iconic Project Gemini spaceflights. The 60th anniversary of Gemini 4, when Ed White conducted the first US spacewalk, came in June. The next mission, Gemini 5, ended just two weeks ago, in 1965. These missions are now forgotten by most Americans, as most of the…
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BepiColombo’s fifth flyby of Mercury reveals planet’s surface in mid-infrared light
The European Space Agency’s BepiColombo spacecraft recently performed its fifth flyby of Mercury on Dec. 1, becoming the first spacecraft ever to observe the planet in mid-infrared light. BepiColombo’s observations from the flyby have revealed interesting new details on the Mercury’s surface, including temperature and composition variations. BepiColombo is only the third mission to visit…
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Scientists use data from BepiColombo flyby to discover features within Mercury’s magnetosphere
In June 2023, the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) BepiColombo mission performed a flyby of its target planet — Mercury. During the flyby, the spacecraft experienced a variety of phenomena mainly caused by the planet’s magnetic field. BepiColombo measured these phenomena, providing scientists with a preview of Mercury’s magnetic…
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ESA’s BepiColombo probe conducts third flyby of Mercury
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) BepiColombo spacecraft, which is in the midst of its seven-year journey to Mercury, has successfully completed its third flyby of the solar system’s innermost planet. BepiColombo passed 236 kilometers over the night side of Mercury on Monday, June 19 at 19:34 UTC, and started imaging with its monitoring cameras as…
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BepiColombo completes first Mercury flyby, science provides insight into planet’s unique environment
On October 1, 2021, the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) BepiColombo spacecraft successfully performed its first flyby of the solar system’s innermost planet, Mercury. The flyby is the first in a set of six such events BepiColombo will complete before entering orbit around Mercury in late 2025. Following the…
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Mercury-bound spacecraft gets an assist from Venus
A sequence of images taken by one of the monitoring cameras on board the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury, as the spacecraft made a close approach of Venus on Oct. 15, 2020. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft flew by Venus late Wednesday, using the planet’s gravity to help redirect the probe toward its ultimate…
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BepiColombo flies by Earth, completing first leg of journey to Mercury
A sequence of images captured by one of the selfie cameras on BepiColombo shortly before the closest approach to Earth. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM Working with a reduced staff due to coronavirus-related restrictions, European Space Agency flight controllers monitored the BepiColombo spacecraft during a flyby of Earth on Friday, a maneuver that used our planet’s gravity to…
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Lean team readies ESA’s Mercury-bound BepiColombo for planetary flyby
Artist’s illustration of the BepiColombo spacecraft during its gravity assist flyby of Earth. Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab One job deemed essential by the European Space Agency during the coronavirus pandemic involves shepherding the BepiColombo spacecraft through a high-speed flyby of planet Earth next month, an immovable event on the $1.8 billion mission’s seven-year journey to Mercury.…
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Watch Mercury move across the sun online — or in the sky, if you’re lucky and careful
A multiple-exposure image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows Mercury’s track across the sun’s disk in 2016. (NASA / GSFC / SDO Image / Genna Duberstein) The planets will be aligned on Monday for a rare astronomical event known as the transit of Mercury, and skywatching fans are sure to see it even if the…