Stunning New Mercury Snapshots Unveiled by UK’s BepiColombo Mission

A spacecraft developed in the UK has obtained fresh images of Mercury as it completed its sixth and final flyby, prior to entering the planet’s orbit in 2026.

BepiColombo was designed by the Stevenage-based firm Astrium, now part of Airbus, and was launched in 2018.

The spacecraft consists of two satellites that will collect data for at least one year and it requires specialized shielding to endure the sun’s heat.

The monitoring cameras aboard the spacecraft took pictures of Mercury as it passed 295km (183 miles) above the planet’s surface, including images of the north poles illuminated by sunlight.

BepiColombo is set to explore what Mercury is composed of and investigate whether water might be present in some of the planet’s most profound craters.

To attain the correct velocity for Mercury’s gravitational capture, it required nine flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury.

This latest flyby signifies the final occasion the monitoring cameras will obtain close-up views of Mercury, as the spacecraft module to which they are affixed will soon detach from the mission’s two satellites before they enter orbit.

Frank Budnik, the flight dynamics manager for BepiColombo, remarked: “Although BepiColombo’s principal mission phase will not commence for another two years, the six flybys of Mercury have provided us with invaluable insights regarding this underexplored planet.”

Geraint Jones, the project scientist for BepiColombo at the European Space Agency, added: “In the coming weeks, the BepiColombo team will work diligently to decipher the numerous mysteries of Mercury with the information gathered from this flyby.”