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TOKYO (AP) – European and Japanese space agencies said an Ariane 5 rocket successfully lifted a spacecraft carrying two probes into orbit Saturday for a joint mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.
The European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the unmanned BepiColombo spacecraft has been successfully separated from the rest of the world.
They said the spacecraft, named after Italian scientist Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo, was in the right orbit and has the first signal after the liftoff.
ESA says the 1.3 trillion-euro ($ 1.5 billion) mission is one of the most challenging in its history. Mercury's extreme temperatures, the intense gravity of the sun and blistering solar radiation make for hellish conditions.
The BepiColombo spacecraft will take a closer look at the role of the Earth, and it can be used in the past.
When it arrives, BepiColombo will release two probes – Bepi and Mio – that will independently investigate the surface and magnetic field of Mercury. Celsius (806 F) on the side facing the sun, and -180 degrees Celsius (-292 F) in Mercury's shadow.
The ESA-developed Bepi will operate in Mercury's inner orbit, and JAXA's Mio will be in the orbit to gather data that would reveal the internal structure of the planet, its surface and geological evolution.
Scientists hope to build on the insights by NASA's Messenger probe, which ended its mission in 2015 after a four-year orbit of Mercury. The only other spacecraft to visit NASA's Mercury was Mariner 10 that flew past the planet in the mid-1970s.
Mercury, which is only slightly larger than Earth's moon. Researchers are also hoping to learn more about the training of the solar system from the data gathered by the BepiColombo mission.
"Said Jan Wörner, ESA Director General, in a statement," This is going to be a huge bounty of science.
JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa, who earlier managed the project, said, "We have high expectations that the future of the system will be better understood than the environment of the planet, and ultimately, the origin of the Solar System including that of Earth. "
It is the second recent cooperation between the Europeans and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. JAXA's Hayabusa2 probe dropped a German-French rover Ryugu earlier this month.
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Jordans reported from Berlin.
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