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ESA / DLR:
Euro-Japanese mission explores the smallest planet in the solar system
• On October 20, 2018 at 3:45 am, Central European Summer Time, BepiColombo will launch into space aboard an Ariane 5 rocket coming from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana.
• The mission composed of two probes will study, among other things, the surface and the composition of the planet Mercury and will explore its magnetosphere.
• About seven years will be the long journey of probes through the interior of the solar system.,
Focus: Extraterrestrial Space
On October 20, 2018, the Euro-Japanese BepiColombo global mission will be launched at 3:45 am, Central European summer time (October 19 at 10:45 pm local time) aboard a rocket Ariane 5 of the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana. "The mission should not only explore the planet Mercury, but also bring new information about our solar system," says Dr. Walther Pelzer, board member for space management at the Aerospace Center German (DLR). "Once again, Japan is proving to be a reliable partner of Europeans in space travel in this huge challenge." The long path of the probe to the interior of the solar system will take about seven years.
Two probes explore Mercury together
BepiColombo is the most comprehensive European project to explore a planet in the solar system. The mission consists of two probes orbiting Mercury: Mercury Planetary Orbit (DFO) and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbit (MMO). While DFO is designed to explore the surface and composition of the planet, MMO is exploring its magnetosphere. The other objectives of the mission are the study of the solar wind, the internal structure and the global environment of Mercury, as well as its interactions with the solar environment. Scientists also hope to gain new information on the formation of the entire solar system.
Both probes will be in flight aboard the Mercury Composite Spacecraft (MCS), which will power them and protect them from extreme temperatures of 430 degrees Celsius with the help of a patented shield, the MMO Sunshield and Interface Structure ( MOSIF). the day side and minus 180 degrees Celsius on the night side of Mercure protects.
MERTIS and BELA: Using sensors in extreme conditions
Three of the 16 instruments aboard the two space probes were developed in Germany: BELA (BepiColombo laser altimeter), MPO-MAG (MPO magnetometer) and MERTIS (mercury radiometer and thermal infrared spectrometer). MERTIS is an infrared imaging spectrometer and radiometer with two uncooled radiation sensors, sensitive to wavelengths between 7 and 40 microns. Arriving in orbit, MERTIS will study the surface and interior of Mercury aboard DFO. With a spatial resolution of 500 meters, it identifies the minerals forming rocks at the surface in the middle infrared.
Knowledge of the mineralogical composition allows scientists to make statements about the evolution of the planet. In addition, an integrated micro-radiometer provides data on the surface temperature and thermal conductivity of mercury. Thanks to a new instrument concept, MERTIS has been extremely compact and energy efficient. "The two MERTIS sensors are unique," explains the DLR Experiments Manager. Jörn Helbert adds: "The imaging channel uses an uncooled microbolometer, the first to be qualified for space qualifications in Europe, which uses a 3-by-1 sensor engraved directly from a piece of silicon. are just two of the many innovative technologies developed specifically for this experiment. "The team is led by scientists from the University of Münster and the DLR Planetary Research Institute. The experiment is managed by the DLR Institute for Optical Sensor Systems, designed and developed by MERTIS. The operation is carried out under the direction of the DLR Institute for Planetary Research. The scientific evaluation of the data is carried out in collaboration with the WWU Münster.
The BELA laser altimeter provides information on the global shape, rotation and topography of the planet closest to the sun. Every second, it sends ten laser pulses to Mercury and receives the signal reflected by the surface in a fraction of a second. The higher the point of the landscape, the shorter the time required by the laser pulse to get to the surface and from there to the sensor in BELA. From the lifespan of millions of laser pulses, a 3D model of the entire Mercury surface will emerge during the mission. "In addition, we can use the shape of reflected pulses to determine the roughness of the surface, which helps us better understand the physical and geological processes that shape the planet's image today," explains Dr. Hauke Hußmann, BELA's Scientific Project Manager. Sophisticated protection and complete protection against heat and light prevent the instrument from overheating or damaging the radiation due to the extreme temperatures of the planet. BELA was developed and built by DLR in collaboration with the University of Bern, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía and the industry. The operation and scientific evaluation of data are under the direction of the DLR Planetary Research Institute.
The MPO-MAG experiment is a high resolution digital magnetometer. As already discovered by the Mariner 10 probe, Mercury surrounds a magnetic field whose intensity corresponds to 1% of that of the Earth's magnetic field. In MPO-MAG, two sensors are used on an extension arm of the MPO to study the Mercury's own magnetic field. The purpose is also the exploration of the internal structure of Mercury. Professor Karl-Heinz Glaßmeier of the Institute of Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics (IGEP) of the Technical University of Braunschweig is scientifically responsible.
The long way through the space
The journey from BepiColombo to Mercure will last about seven years. The probe performs several "swing-by" maneuvers on Earth and Venus and even six on Mercury, before being put into orbit on the target planet. In tilting maneuvers, the probe uses the gravitational force of celestial bodies to absorb velocity during the rest of the race or to slow down. To reach an orbit, the probe must not only significantly reduce its speed on Mercury, but also counteract the enormous gravitational pull of the sun. MERTIS will already be measuring Swing Bys on Earth and Venus. Arriving at Merkur, BepiColombo will collect data for about a year.
Mercury – the "unknown" neighbor of the solar system
Mercury is not just the smallest planet – with 4,878 kilometers in diameter it's hardly bigger than our moon – but also the least explored Earth-like planets in our solar system. It's mainly because it's the immediate neighbor of the sun: Their radiation is more than six times that of the Earth and warms the surface up to 430 degrees Celsius during the day, while it cools to minus 180 degrees Celsius at night. In the past, Mercury was first explored by two probes: NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft had conducted three Mercury overflights in 1974 and 1975, and between 2011 and 2015, NASA's MESSENGER probe examined three overflights. and an orbit at the approach of the northern hemisphere our neighboring planet. BepiColombo will complete the ideal mission MESSENGER, just as the southern hemisphere can now be accurately detected. At the same time, new investigations are underway. There was therefore no instrument on MESSENGER who observed the planet in the middle infrared. MERTIS will provide a whole new dataset here.
Narrow Euro-Japanese cooperation
The overall direction of the mission rests with the European Space Agency (ESA), which was also responsible for the development and construction of the global mercury orbiter., The magnetospheric mercury orbit was provided by the Japanese space agency JAXA. The German contribution to BepiColombo is coordinated and mainly financed by the DLR Space Agency with funds from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The two instruments BELA and MERTIS, which have been widely developed by the DLR institutes for planetary research and optical sensor systems of Berlin-Adlershof, have received substantial funding from the DLR for research and technology. The mission is also sponsored by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Göttingen, the Westfälische-Wilhelms University Münster and the Technische Universität Braunschweig. The industrial part of the probe was carried out by a European industrial consortium led by Airbus Defense and Space.
See also my contribution of • March 8, 2018
Made for the planet Mercur
ESA:
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