For decades, Mercury has been a challenging target for exploration. Orbiting deep within the Sun's powerful gravitational grip, it is a world of extremes and enduring mysteries.
From the missions web page: "A big challenge for the mission is the Sun’s enormous gravity, which makes it difficult to place a spacecraft into a stable orbit around Mercury – even more energy is needed than sending a mission to Pluto"
Also, the propulsion, provided by the Mercury Transfer Module, comes from ion thrusters. Ionized Xenon is accelerated by a high-voltage electrical potential field, creating a much greater impulse per mass than conventional fuels, allowing for a much lower amount of propellant to achieve the mission.
One neat wrinkle is that BepiColombo does not arrive as a single orbiter: after cruise hardware is shed, MPO and Mio have to be inserted into different Mercury orbits for complementary measurements.
A remarkable journey reaching its most exciting chapter. 🚀 Wishing ESA and JAXA every success as BepiColombo prepares to unlock Mercury’s mysteries. ☀️🛰️
eine achtjährige Reise, die neun planetare Vorbeiflüge umfasst
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Also, the propulsion, provided by the Mercury Transfer Module, comes from ion thrusters. Ionized Xenon is accelerated by a high-voltage electrical potential field, creating a much greater impulse per mass than conventional fuels, allowing for a much lower amount of propellant to achieve the mission.