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Space mission captures images of Mercury from 199 kilometers away
The images were obtained almost three years after the unmanned mission vessel was launched aboard an Ariane 5 Rocket.
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A handout photo made available by the European Space Agency on October 2, 2021 shows a view of Mercury captured on October 1, 2021 by the joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission as the spacecraft flew past the planet for a gravity assist manoeuvre. (AFP/European Space Agency)
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he European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft has sent back its first images of Mercury, the nearest planet to the Sun, the European Space Agency said Saturday.
The images were obtained almost three years after the unmanned mission vessel was launched aboard an Ariane 5 Rocket.
The cameras attached the BepiColombo provided black-and-white images, the ESA said in a statement.
But as the spacecraft arrived on the night side of the planet, conditions were "not ideal" for taking images at its closest approach to the planet, an altitude of 199 kilometres (124 miles), so the closest was from about 1,000 km.
The region shown is part of Mercury’s northern hemisphere, including large craters and an area flooded by lava billions of years ago.
"The flyby was flawless from the spacecraft point of view, and it's incredible to finally see our target planet," said Elsa Montagnon, Spacecraft Operations Manager for the mission.
The BepiColombo mission will study all aspects of this mysterious inner planet from its core to surface processes, magnetic field and exosphere, "to better understand the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star", said the agency.
