Mercury-bound spacecraft returns first selfies

That's your concern, BepiColombo.

The European Space Agency has launched an ambitious mission to Mercure just before the weekend and the intrepid explorer is already playing in his own space selfies.

BepiColombo broke the three pictures shortly after exploding in space. You can see the solar wings, antennas and parts of the spacecraft structure on the pictures.

The BepiColombo mission consists of two orbiters who will seek to strengthen our knowledge of Mercury, one of the least explored planets in the solar system. JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is a partner of the mission.

Once BepiColombo reaches the Mercury orbit, it will separate the two orbiters. The mission hopes to answer some questions about the planet closest to the sun. Does it have a solid or liquid core? Is it tectonically active? Does the water ice hide in its craters?

Surveillance cameras used for selfies will come into play during the mission's seven-year cruise, including overflights of the Earth, Venus and Mercury.

Humanity sent only two previous missions to Mercury, the NASA Mariner 10 in 1973, and then Messenger in 2004.