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This is the first image captured in space by the Euro-Japanese BepiColombo mission in Mercury. He was captured by a surveillance camera on BepiColombo's mercury transfer module (MTM) on October 20, 2018, the day after the launch of the mission on his long journey to Mercury. The picture shows one of BepiColombo's extended solar panels (right) and an insulated solar collector on the MTM (left).
Credit: ESA / BepiColombo / MTM – CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
A recently launched mission on Mercury has transmitted its first space photo on TV.
The European and Japanese mission BepiColombo captured a selfie showing an extended solar panel and a solar collector wrapped in insulation Saturday (20 October), a day after leaving Kourou, French Guiana.
The heart of BepiColombo is made up of two spacecraft: Mercury's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. A third component, the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), is used to support this duo during the long cruise on the innermost planet of the solar system. [BepiColombo in Pictures: A Mercury Mission by Europe and Japan]
And this cruise will be really long. BepiColombo is expected to go into orbit around Mercury in December 2025, after nine different planetary flights – one from Earth, two from Venus and six from Mercury. This complicated trajectory is a consequence of Mercury's high orbital velocity and its proximity to the sun; Mercury-related spacecraft must thread a needle to reach the planet and avoid being sucked by the powerful gravity of our star.
Once in Mercury, the two orbiters will separate and follow their own path. The various data collected by the duo will provide a complete picture of the rocky planet, illuminating its composition, structure, magnetic field, training and evolution, said mission leaders.
This diagram shows the spacecraft that makes up the Mercury BepiColombo mission, as well as the location of the surveillance camera that took the first picture of the mission – the selfie on the left, captured on October 20, 2018, the day after the launch of the mission. .
Credit: ESA / BepiColombo / MTM – CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The first historical photo was taken by one of three black and white surveillance cameras aboard the MTM. If all goes according to plan, the other two cameras will be activated on Sunday, October 21, and will take pictures of the high-gain, medium-gain antennas deployed by DFO, ESA officials said.
"Surveillance cameras will be used on various occasions during the cruise phase, including overflights of Earth, Venus and Mercury," ESA officials wrote in a description of the new photo.
"Although DFO is equipped with a high-resolution scientific camera, it can only be used after the separation of the MTM when it arrives at Mercury in late 2025 because, like many of the other 11 instruments fixed to the MTM during the cruise, "they added.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there" will be published on November 13 by Grand Central Publishing. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.
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