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Bepi Colombo spacecraft
Why is it in news?
- Europe, Japan sent spacecraft on 7-year journey to Mercury.
- Ariane 5 rocket successfully lifted a spacecraft carrying two probes into orbit for a joint mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.
BepiColombo spacecraft
- Spacecraft, named after Italian scientist Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo, was in the right orbit and has sent the first signal after the liftoff.
- BepiColombo spacecraft's two probes — Bepi will operate in Mercury’s inner orbit, and Mio will be in the outer orbit.
- Mercury’s extreme temperatures, the intense gravity pull of the sun and blistering solar radiation make for hellish conditions.
- The BepiColombo spacecraft will have to follow an elliptical path that involves a fly-by of Earth, two of Venus and six of Mercury itself so it can slow down before arriving at its destination in December 2025.
- When it arrives, BepiColombo will release two probes — Bepi and Mio — that will independently investigate the surface and magnetic field of Mercury.
- The probes are designed to cope with temperatures varying from 430 degrees Celsius (806 F) on the side facing the sun, and -180 degrees Celsius (-292 F) in Mercury’s shadow.
- The ESA-developed Bepi will operate in Mercury’s inner orbit, and JAXA’s Mio will be in the outer orbit to gather data that would reveal the internal structure of the planet, its surface and geological evolution.
- The only other spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA’s Mariner 10 that flew past the planet in the mid-1970s.
- Mercury, which is only slightly larger than Earth’s moon, has a massive iron core about which little is known.
- Researchers are also hoping to learn more about the formation of the solar system from the data gathered by the BepiColombo mission.
Sources
The Hindu