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Posted on 09/06/2026 6:44:20 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Mercury, the tiniest and least-explored planet in the inner solar system, is hiding mysteries far larger than itself — and finally, scientists will soon be getting not one but two spacecraft designed to decode the strange world.
That's thanks to the BepiColombo mission, a joint project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that launched in October 2018. After a harrowing journey through the inner solar system, the mission is tackling a crucial maneuver on Thursday (Sept. 3): separating its science equipment from the transport that carried it all that way. By April 2027, scientists hope the mission's two instrument-heavy probes will be gathering a slew of observations that could help solve puzzles about Mercury — and maybe even the solar system we call home.
...
. By April, if all goes well, the mission will consist of two separate spacecraft gathering independent but coordinated data about Mercury.
Europe's Mercury Planetary Orbiter, or MPO, will focus on the planet proper. It's packed with 11 science instruments that will map the terrain, minerals in the crust, and the gravity field, investigate the hollows and volcanic deposits, and observe how the barrage of charged particles from the sun affects this innermost planet.
Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, or Mio, meanwhile, will focus on the planet's surroundings — its magnetosphere and wispy atmosphere, as well as the dust cluttering up its neighborhood.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
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8 years to Mercury? Why did they take the scenic route?.........
What is the highest outside temperature in that area supposed to be?
What temperature can the craft handle without bursting into flames and incinerating?
I think we are not supposed to ask those questions.
Lol.
I love their calzones.
My first thought exactly...
Plus its all downhill from here!.....😉
Does Freddie know about this?
> That’s thanks to the BepiColombo mission… <
The US names its space missions well. Apollo, Voyager, etc.
But BepiColombo? That sounds like a name of a cartoon detective.
I saw a video about how difficult it is to get to Mercury. The gravity that close to the sun is crazy.
I suppose that it could have gone in like Soviet probes to Venus and we could argue about how many milliseconds of data were collected...
There have been a few bumps in the road, but one thing this country has done right is NASA.
Lucky thing they didn’t take a wrong turn at Venus ,LOL
8 years to Mercury sounds like a jazz album title.
In before “they shoulda made a left turn in Albuquerque.”
8 years to Mercury but only 30 Seconds to Mars?
Something’s not right with the solar system.
There’s some great music though.
They shoulda!.......
I was gonna say “cool”,, but it IS Mercury, after all…
Musk is making a laughingstock out of NASA.
Government and science are incompatible.
According to NASA they lost all the technology from the 1960s and early 1970s—and had to reinvent it from scratch.
That is quite the “bump in the road”.
Lol.
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