Spacecraft BepiColombo Poised For Mission To Mercury 29
The European Space Agency is launching a spacecraft to explore the mysteries of Mercury. BepiColombo, named after the Italian mathematician and engineer Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo, is set to launch at 9:45 p.m. ET Friday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from a spaceport in French Guiana. The launch will be livestreamed via ESA's website. NPR reports: The spacecraft is actually made up of two probes: One will go into orbit close to the planet, while the other, supplied by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will orbit farther away, measuring Mercury's magnetic field. "What this lets you do is look at that space environment around Mercury from two different perspectives at exactly the same time," says Nancy Chabot, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. That gives a clearer picture of what's changing during the 88 days it takes Mercury to make one revolution around the sun.
Radar measurements from Earth first suggested that there was ice on Mercury. Earlier this decade, NASA's Messenger mission was able to confirm that the ice was actually there. But Messenger only came close enough to see the ice at Mercury's north pole. The real icy action, Chabot says, is at the south pole. "The largest crater to host these water ice deposits is right smack dab at the south pole of Mercury," she says. "And so I'm very excited that BepiColombo is going to be in an orbit that passes much closer to the southern hemisphere." BepiColombo will take a rather circuitous path to Mercury. It will fly by Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury six times before it is in the right orientation to go into orbit around the innermost planet in our solar system. The entire trip will take slightly more than seven years. When BepiColombo gets into orbit, it may be able to see where Messenger crash-landed on the planet. It is estimated to have made a crater about 60 feet across.
UPDATE: BepiColombo successfully blasted off from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana, marking the third ever mission to Mercury. "Launching BepiColombo is a huge milestone for ESA (the European Space Agency) and JAXA, and there will be many great successes to come," ESA Director General Jan Woerner said in a statement. "Beyond completing the challenging journey, this mission will return a huge bounty of science."
Radar measurements from Earth first suggested that there was ice on Mercury. Earlier this decade, NASA's Messenger mission was able to confirm that the ice was actually there. But Messenger only came close enough to see the ice at Mercury's north pole. The real icy action, Chabot says, is at the south pole. "The largest crater to host these water ice deposits is right smack dab at the south pole of Mercury," she says. "And so I'm very excited that BepiColombo is going to be in an orbit that passes much closer to the southern hemisphere." BepiColombo will take a rather circuitous path to Mercury. It will fly by Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury six times before it is in the right orientation to go into orbit around the innermost planet in our solar system. The entire trip will take slightly more than seven years. When BepiColombo gets into orbit, it may be able to see where Messenger crash-landed on the planet. It is estimated to have made a crater about 60 feet across.
UPDATE: BepiColombo successfully blasted off from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana, marking the third ever mission to Mercury. "Launching BepiColombo is a huge milestone for ESA (the European Space Agency) and JAXA, and there will be many great successes to come," ESA Director General Jan Woerner said in a statement. "Beyond completing the challenging journey, this mission will return a huge bounty of science."
Re: (Score:2)
Nobody of importance gave a shit about the shirt.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I do. But I don't remember what the shirt was about. And frankly, there's no need to remind me, I didn't give a shit back then and I still don't.
Interruptions during the launch (Score:1)
As the countdown rolled to zero, the spacecraft reported a number of delays, noting "Just one more thing..."
Change of pace in space (Score:1)
Finally a country willing to explore something besides Mars and going back to the Moon. I wish them luck and that we can finally get some important research back on Mercury. Unfortunately NASA completely lacks any sort of solid path in space exploration anymore. I mean we can't even supply ISS with crew or supplies and the shuttle has been retired for years. Obviously no real plans were ever in place for the future, and so here we are looking to a unrealistic manned Mars mission, or a redundant return to th
Re: Change of pace in space (Score:1)
What? The US just completed a mission at Mercury, has an asteroid sample return craft, Jupiter orbiter, a close solar problems, and New Horizons in flight. In the near term there are US plans for a variety of more asteroid missions, including types not explored like trojans, another Jupiter/Europa probe. Longer term plans are looking at Titan and Venus again, among other targets.
There is plenty to complain about US manned programs, but the unmanned solar system exploration has been and continues to be stron
Re: (Score:2)
Currently active NASA probes:
Luna: ARTEMIS P1 and P2 (former Earth observers), LRO
Sol: Parker
Mars: Odyssey, MRO, MAVEN, Curiosity, Opportunity (contact lost), InSight (en route)
Jupiter: Juno
Asteroid Belt: Dawn (en transit), OSIRIS-REx (en route)
Kuiper Belt: New Horizons
Currently active non-NASA probes:
Mercury: BepiColombo (ESA+JAXA, en route)
Venus: Akatsuki (JAXA)
Mars: Mars Express (ESA), Trace Gas Orbiter (ESA), Mangalyaan (ISRO)
Asteroid Belt: Hayabusa 2 (JAXA), Chang'e 2 (CNSA, also former lunar probe)
So
On your way ... (Score:2)
Poised For Mission To Mercury? (Score:2)