BepiColombo Mission Approaches Mercury After Eight-Year Journey

<p>The BepiColombo mission achieved a significant milestone this week as it nears the end of an eight-year journey to Mercury, the innermost planet in the Solar System.</p><p>The robotic science mission, which has a budget of nearly $2 billion, is led by the European Space Agency with contributions from Japan and the United States. Since its launch in 2018, BepiColombo has utilized plasma propulsion and a series of flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury to adjust its velocity and navigate toward a final encounter with Mercury later this year.</p><p>Upon its next approach to Mercury, BepiColombo will be traveling at a speed suitable for the planet's gravity to capture the spacecraft into orbit. Scientists involved in interplanetary missions often experience long waits for scientific results; for instance, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft took nearly 10 years to reach Pluto. It has been noted that reaching Mercury and achieving orbit requires more energy, or delta-v, compared to sending a probe to fly by Pluto.</p>