This Saturday, October 20 at 3:45, Spanish time, the satellite was launched BepiColombonail common mission the European Space Agency (ESA) and JAXA, the Japanese agency. He took off from the European spaceport of Kurú, French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

For more than seven years, the Euro-Japanese probe will travel in space to achieve its goal: mercury. The planet closest to the sun is visited again after the probes Mariner 10 and MESSENGER. Thanks to NASA's research, we now know the mercury that has a magnetic field 1% of that of the Earthwhich has more core than the earth's crust, which could be the consequence of an impact; it has narrowed and does not have atmosphere, but there is volatile matter.

"Messenger has opened many questions that need to be resolved now," said Mauro Casale, head of BepiColombo's scientific segment development. After almost twenty years of planning, the two probes (one European and one Japanese) have among their main objectives the objective of investigate the origin and evolution of the planetbut also of the solar system: researchers have speculated that, because of the large amount of volatile matter in mercury, it is formed at a distance similar to that of Mars in the sun, but later , an impact explaining that barking, you driven until his current position, as Casale explained to hypertext.

The researchers also aim to learn more about the surface and the interior of the planet; study the exosphere and the magnetosphere from several points at once and, on a secondary basis, check the theory of relativity of Einstein watch how the light of certain stars bends after the sun.

This "mysterious planet", so qualified by Santa Martinez, coordinator of the scientific processing and archiving of the ESA, has temperatures between 450 and -180 degrees Celsius. This is due to its proximity to the Sun which is different from the one we know on Earth: the positional changes that our star makes on Earth for 24 hours, on Mercury, takes "176 Earth days", Casale explained. hypertext. "This means that there are 88 days of continuous sun and 88 days of continuous night, which is very particular, and during this period there are times when the sun seems to be stationarythat is, it does not move in the sky either forwards or backwards, "adds the ESA researcher.

Among the instruments included in this mission, there is an infrared spectrometer that will indicate which materials are on the surface of the planet, but also an accelerometer, which will be responsible for carrying out the project. infrared experiment to check the theory of general relativity of Einstein. In addition, it has a laser altimeter, with which digital terrain models will be created. For its part, the Japanese probe, with five instruments, includes a particle detector, which will allow us to know what materials are in the mercury. "The instrumentation is very complete and complex, we are eager to see what they show us," Martinez said.

With a "85% of new technologies"That is to say, created specifically for this mission, as Casale pointed out during the investigator's press conference, this mission is a headache for scientists facing challenges that are difficult to solve but that they have managed to overcome. For example, because of the high temperatures due to the proximity of the Sun, it was necessary to isolate the satellites, but especially their antennas: "When the antennas turn brown, they stop working," said Casale. For this reason, it was invented a new type of paint that prevents them from getting that color. On the other hand, also for the isolation of satellites, it was necessary to special multilayer protection keep the eleven instruments on board protected.

Mercury trip

"The trip is not direct, it takes energy," said Sara de la Fuente, coordinator of planning and scientific operations, at a press conference. BepiColombo will therefore need nine aids to gravitation take the necessary impetus to enter the orbit of the planet closest to the Sun, which will make one on Earth, two on Venus and six on Mercury, as Martinez explained at the press conference. Thanks to these maneuvers, the mission can enter with the necessary speed to orbit around the planet and study it better.

But before that, BepiColombo will have to stop the attraction of solar gravity and reorient itself to reach its goal. For this he has ion propulsion system, which uses xenon as fuel and produces a plasma. After stopping and redirecting, BepiColombo will make the nine assists to reach Mercury, where will release both probes, a Japanese and a European, who will start their study of the foreseeable planet in March 2026.