Test image of the BepiColombo monitoring camera
Test image of the BepiColombo monitoring camera
This peculiar view of part of the stacked modules of BepiColombo has been captured by one of the monitoring cameras (or "selfies cameras") attached to the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM). The camera looks up, pointing to the solar panel actuator (top left) and to the rear of the panels closest to the "body" of the ship. The photograph was taken at the end of September, during the preparations for the launch in the European Spaceport of Kurú (French Guiana).
The MTM is equipped with three monitoring cameras that provide black and white photographs with a resolution of 1,024 x 1,024 pixels. One of the cameras is located above the MTM and presents the field of vision seen in the image, looking towards the Mercurial Planetary Orbiter (MPO), which is located above. The solar panels of the MTM are folded for launch, as can be seen, but after deployment, the camera will have an unobstructed view. Specifically, within a day of launch, the high gain antenna of the MPO will remain in the field of view of the camera.
The other two cameras are on the other side of the module: one will look down at the extended set of solar panels of the MTM, and the other will look up towards the MPO, to capture images of the medium gain antenna once deployed and, later, also on the magnetometer arm.
(Photo: ESA / BepiColombo / MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
The deployment of the solar panels and the antenna will be confirmed by telemetry data that the ship will send after launch. Later, the monitoring cameras will turn on and it is expected that they will take the first images between twelve and a half hours after launch, and send them to Earth soon after.
The monitoring chambers will be used as necessary during the cruise phase, especially during the nine overflights of the Earth, Venus and Mercury.
Although the MPO is equipped with a high-resolution scientific camera, it will only work once the orbiter separates from the MTM when it reaches Mercury by the end of 2025. This is because, like many of the other eleven instruments, It is located inside the ship fixed to the MTM during the trip. However, up to eight of the MPO's eleven instruments may be partially operated during overflights, in addition to three of the five instrument packages aboard the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) of the JAXA. So, for example, we will enjoy unique opportunities to collect data on Venus.
BepiColombo is a joint mission of ESA and JAXA. It is the first European mission to Mercury, the smallest and least explored planet in the inner Solar System, and the first to send two orbiters that will make simultaneous and complementary measurements of the planet's dynamic environment.
The launch is scheduled for 01:45 GMT on October 20. (Source: ESA)
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