A spacecraft has arrived at Mercury after travelling through space for eight years, closing in on the least-explored planet in our solar system.
BepiColombo is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It is only the third mission ever sent to Mercury.
The spacecraft blasted off back in 2018, but reaching Mercury has been tricky. The Sun’s gravity is so strong near the small planet that BepiColombo had to complete nine flybys of Earth, Mercury and Venus just to slow down enough to get close.
BepiColombo is actually two orbiters in one, named after the Italian scientist Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo. ESA built the Mercury Planetary Orbiter, while JAXA built the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter.
Together, the two orbiters will study Mercury’s core, its surface, its magnetic field, and its thin outer atmosphere, known as the exosphere. Scientists hope this will help explain how a planet can form and survive so close to the Sun.
BepiColombo is due to settle into orbit around Mercury in November.
Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system and the closest to the Sun. It zips around the Sun in just 88 Earth days, making it the fastest orbiter of all the planets.
Temperatures there are extreme, reaching 430 degrees Celsius on the side facing the Sun and dropping to nearly -180 degrees Celsius on the side facing away.
For now, the mission’s team will keep a close eye on BepiColombo as it prepares for the next stage of its long journey.
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