• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
CLASP site logo svg
  • Contact Us
  • CLASP News
  • Give to U-M Climate & Space

Search

  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Visit Us
    • Department Overview
    • #18 (no title)
    • Publications
    • History of CLaSP
      • CLaSP History: Atmospheric and Oceanic
      • CLaSP History: Space Science and Engineering
    • Daily Planet Newsletter
    • Team Spotlights
      • Faculty Spotlights
      • Student Spotlights
      • Alumni Spotlights
    • CLASP Inranet
    • CLASP Seminar Recordings
  • Research
    • Atmospheric & Climate Sciences
      • Atmosphere – Biosphere Interactions
      • Atmospheric Chemistry
      • Atmospheric Dynamics
      • Climate: Change & Modeling
      • Weather: Clouds & Precipitation
    • Space & Planetary Sciences
      • Aeronomy
      • High Energy Density Physics/Laboratory Astrophysics
      • Thermosphere, Ionosphere, and Magnetosphere
      • Planetary Atmospheres & Magnetospheres
      • Sun, Solar Wind & Heliosphere
      • Space Weather
    • Theory & Computational Methods
      • Numerical Methods & Scientific Computing
      • Statistical Methods & Data Assimilation
      • Center for Radiative Shock Hydrodynamics
      • Center for Space Environment Modeling
      • SWMF Downloadable software
    • Instrumentation & Observational Methods
      • Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation
      • Space Missions & Instrumentation
      • Radiative Transfer, Remote Sensing & Instrumentation
      • Space Physics Research Laboratory
    • Labs, Centers & Research Groups
  • People
  • Academics
    • Why Michigan for Climate & Space?
    • Undergraduate Studies
      • Declaring your Climate & Space major
      • BSE Climate and Meteorology
        • Climate Science and Impacts Concentration
        • Meteorology Concentration
      • BSE Space Science & Engineering
        • Space Science Concentration
        • Space Instrumentation Concentration
      • Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Minor
    • Undergraduate Research
      • REU at Climate & Space
      • UM-SANSA International Research Experience for Students (IRES)
    • Graduate Studies
      • Graduate Admissions
      • Master’s Program
        • The Master of Engineering Degree in Applied Climate
        • The Master of Engineering Degree in Space Engineering
        • The Master of Science Degree in Atmospheric and Space Sciences
      • Climate Change Solutions Graduate Certificate
        • Climate Solutions Certificate Coursework
        • Climate Solutions Certificate Electives
        • Climate Solutions How to Apply
      • Sequential Undergraduate/Graduate Studies (SUGS)
      • PhD Program
      • G.R.E.A.T Workshop
    • Course Syllabus Information
    • Course schedule information
    • Contact Us
  • Resources
    • For Undergraduate Students
    • For Graduate Students
    • For Fellowships and Postdocs
    • Student Groups
      • Graduate and Undergraduate Student Organization (GUStO)
      • Michigan Geophysical Union
    • Careers
      • Job Placement Info
    • Security Policy
    • CSRB Building Safety
    • Climate & Space Faculty Committees 2022-2023
  • Alumni
    • National Advisory Board
    • Give to U-M Climate & Space
    • Contact Us
    • CLASP News
    • Give to U-M Climate & Space

BepiColombo mission makes its first pass by Mercury

The spacecraft captured its first views of the smallest planet in our Solar System.

Written by: ejolsen

October 4, 2021

This past Friday evening, nearly three years after launch, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission made its first pass by the planet Mercury. Mission researchers are reviewing the latest images sent by the spacecraft.

BepiColombo meets Mercury
Photo: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM

This was the first of six planned flybys of Mercury, and it passed just 199 kilometers (123 miles) above the small world. The plan is to use each pass through the planet’s gravity field to slow BepiColombo enough to enter a stable orbit around the planet. This is expected to happen by the end of 2025, with the science phase of the mission beginning in early 2026.

The mission, a joint endeavor between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will study the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and history of Mercury, the least explored planet in the inner Solar System.

BepiColombo consists of the Mercury Composite Spacecraft (MCS), a “carrier spacecraft” that brings two science orbiter spacecraft to the planet. Each of these craft have distinct research aims: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) will study the surface and internal composition of the planet; and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) which will study Mercury’s magnetosphere.

A taste of Mercury geography
Photo: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM

U-M Climate & Space faculty play a major role in BepiColombo’s science team.

Prof. Stefano Livi is the Principal Investigator for the STROFIO (Start from a Rotating Field) mass spectrometer instrument which will analyze Mercury’s unusual Exosphere. STROFIO is part of the instrument payload of ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO).

Prof. James Slavin is Co-Investigator on STROFIO science team and an expert in Mercury’s Magnetosphere, as well as the conditions that allow solar wind impact on Mercury’s surface and the sputtering of neutral sodium into the exosphere. Prof. Slavin is also Co-Investigator on the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) Magnetometer science team.

Asst. Research Scientist Dr. Weijie Sun is Co-Investigator on the Mercury Plasma Particle Experiment (MPPE) science team; This instrument is part of the payload on the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio), the second spacecraft that BepiColombo will insert into Mercury Orbit.

BepiColombo is named after Professor Giuseppe (Bepi) Colombo (1920-1984) of the University of Padua, Italy. A mathematician and engineer, Colombo’s calculations demonstrated a method for using a gravity-assist maneuver with the planet Venus to allow the Mariner 10 spacecraft to fly by Mercury three times in 1974-5. Colombo also explained the spin-orbit resonance in the planet’s orbit, showing that it rotates three times for every two orbits around the Sun.

BepiColombo’s first views of Mercury: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/BepiColombo_s_first_views_of_Mercury

Read more about the BepiColombo mission: https://sci.esa.int/web/bepicolombo/home

Explore: CLASP Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Faculty Space

Footer

CoE-horiz-logo-footer

  • Contact Us
  • CLASP News
  • Give to U-M Climate & Space
  • Michigan Engineering
  • Strategic Vision
  • Graduate and Professional
  • Undergraduate
  • U-M Engineering Research News

© 2021 The Regents of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA

Privacy Policy | Non-Discrimination Policy | Campus Safety

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2023 The Regents of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA Privacy Policy | Non-Discrimination Policy | Campus Safety