The BepiColombo probe launched to Mercury: Europe and Japan exploring the smallest planet in the solar system

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The BepiColombo probe launched to Mercury: Europe and Japan exploring the smallest planet in the solar system





The BepiColombo probe launched to Mercury: Europe and Japan exploring the smallest planet in the solar system


After Uranus and Neptune, Mercury is the worst known planet in the solar system. It has only been visited by two probes, Mariner 10 and MESSENGER, both of NASA. But there is already a third mission on the way: the BepiColombo probe, a collaboration between the European space agency (ESA) and the Japanese space agency (JAXA). In reality, BepiColombo is a very particular mission because it is not formed by a single probe, but by two, MPO and MMO (Mio), which will orbit Mercury from 2025 with the aim of unraveling its secrets. In addition to both probes, BepiColombo includes a third vessel, MTM, responsible for taking probes to the vicinity of the inner planet of the solar system. BepiColombo was launched on October 20, 2018 at 01:45 UTC through an Ariane 5 ECA in mission VA245 from the ELA-3 ramp in Kourou (French Guiana). Despite being launched by a powerful Ariane 5, BepiColombo must make a flyby of Earth, two of Venus and five of Mercury to be placed in orbit around the latter. BepiColombo is the first European probe to explore Mercury, so we can say that ESA has sent ships to all the planets of the inner solar system.



The BepiColombo probe (ESA).



The Mariner 10 and MESSENGER missions of NASA have discovered that Mercury is basically a huge core of iron and nickel surrounded by a very thin mantle and crust. How could a planet like this have been formed? The average density of Mercury is higher than that of Venus and among the rocky planets it is only surpassed by Earth, even though the smaller mass of Mercury prevents the minerals inside from being as compressed as in the case of Venus and the Earth . And is that the high density is due to the enormous size of the nucleus, located only 400 kilometers from the surface. The core presents, like Earth, a molten outer part and a solid inner part. As in our planet, the outer liquid nucleus of iron and nickel is responsible for generating a dipolar magnetic field. Mercury's magnetosphere, which is separated from the axis of rotation by a distance equal to 20% of that of the planet, is a hundred times less intense than Earth's, which combined with Mercury's closeness to the Sun makes it difficult to keep the solar wind. This interaction with the solar wind generates an induced field in the nucleus with a magnitude similar to that of the planetary field. The fossil magnetic field detected in the crust indicates that about 3.8 billion years ago Mercury's magnetosphere had to be comparable to Earth's at present.



Launching of BepiColombo (ESA).





Interior of Mercury (ESA).



It is not clear how it is possible that the outer core of Mercury has remained in the molten state during all this time. In addition to the disintegration of radioactive elements, the tidal forces generated by their proximity to the Sun must play a non-negligible role. In spite of everything, since the core was formed, it has cooled down and, consequently, it has contracted. Mercury is now about 7 kilometers smaller than in its beginnings, which has caused the appearance of long "wrinkles" all over the surface. Apparently similar to the Moon, Mercury is actually a very different world with a radically different story. This small planet of 4,879 kilometers in diameter has more "young" plains - some 3,500 million years old - of volcanic origin and huge impact basins such as Caloris (1,550 kilometers). In the permanent shadow of the craters that are less than 6.5 degrees from the poles, there are large amounts of ice - a trillion tons, much more than on the Moon - both in a more or less pure state and mixed with organic substances. Despite its high density, one of the mysteries of Mercury is that the crust contains many volatile elements (sodium, potassium, chlorine or sulfur) and very little oxygen. Reconciling this fact with catastrophic training, as most models do, is almost impossible. Another mystery is the hollows, areas of the surface in which these volatile elements seem to have been sublimated by mechanisms that are not entirely clear.



Mercury Magnetosphere (ESA).





Comparison between Mercury's magnetosphere (left) and Earth's (JAXA) magnetosphere.



BepiColombo must solve these and other enigmas. The probe, which receives the name MCS (Mercury Composite Spacecraft), has a mass of 4,081 kg at launch, 6.4 meters in length and 3.6 meters in diameter. It is composed of four elements, the MTM (Mercury Transfer Module), MPO (Mercury Planetary Orbiter), the MMO (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) and the MMO thermal shield, called MOSIF (MMO Sunshield and InterFace Structure). MPO, of European manufacture, is the main element of the mission and has a mass of 1,838 kg, with dimensions of 6.3 x 3.9 x 3.6 meters. It includes nothing more and nothing less than eleven scientific instruments from 35 countries. The most important instrument is SIMBIO-SYS (Spectrometer and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo-Integrated Observatory SYStem), of 8.7 kg. It consists of the STC stereo camera, the high resolution HRIC camera and the HIVI spectrometer. The HRIC camera has a 10-centimeter Ritchey-Chrétien telescope and is capable of obtaining images with a resolution of 5 meters per pixel from 400 kilometers in height. For comparison, the NAC camera of the MESSENGER probe had a resolution of about 100 meters from a 200-kilometer orbit. The HIVI spectrometer will work in the range of wavelengths from 400 to 2,000 nanometers in 256 different channels, with a spatial resolution of 100 meters per pixel.



Mission BepiColombo (ESA).





Parts of BepiColombo (ESA).





Parts of BepiColombo (Airbus Defense and Space).





Elements of BepiColombo (ESA).



The BELA laser altimeter (BepiColombo Laser Altimeter) will provide a map of Mercury's terrain in three dimensions with a resolution of about 20 meters horizontally and 30 centimeters vertically. The MERTIS infrared spectrometer (MErcury Radiometer and Thermal infrared Imaging Spectrometer) will study the composition of the surface in the wavelength range of 7 to 40 microns, which will allow to create temperature maps with a resolution of 2,000 meters and composition with a resolution of 500 meters. The neutron and high energy spectrometers MGNS (Mercury Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer) and MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer) will help MERTIS to decipher the composition of Mercury. The interaction between the surface and the solar wind will be the objective of the SIXS X-ray spectrometer (Solar Intensity X-rays and Particles Spectrometer). The exosphere of Mercury, a faint covering of ions and particles, will be studied by the PHEBUS ultraviolet spectroscope (BepiColombo's Probing of Hermean Exosphere by Ultraviolet Spectroscopy) and the particle detector SERENA (Search for Exosphere Refilling and Emitted Neutral Abundances). The MERMAG magnetometer (Mercury Magnetometer) will analyze the magnetosphere, while the internal structure of the planet will be studied by the ISA instruments (Italian Spring Accelerometer) and MORE (Mercury Orbiter Radioscience Experiment), which will also check the predictions of Einstein's general relativity.



MPO instruments (ESA).





MPO instruments (ESA).





SIMBIO-SYS cameras (ESA).





The European MPO probe (ESA).





Characteristics and instruments of MPO (ESA).



To protect the MPO from the high temperatures of Mercury's orbit, a cover with up to 50 layers of different materials with a thickness of 65 millimeters and a total mass of 94 kg has been used. The two outer layers are Nextel, a type of ceramic cloth, which will support about 400 ºC. The next 11 layers are aluminum and the remaining are from Upilex and Mylar. The only solar panel of 7.5 meters long and 8.2 square meters will provide 1,800 watts in Mercury's orbit. It will be continually tilted up to about 75º so that its surface temperature does not exceed 190ºC, otherwise it would degrade quickly. The photovoltaic cells are interspersed with solar reflectors OSR (Optical Solar Reflectors) -A kind of mirrors- to lower the temperature. On the other hand, when the probe passes through the shadow of Mercury must withstand temperatures of -170 ºC. Up to 97 pipes will be responsible for cooling the ship with the help of a radiator panel located at the opposite end of the solar panel.



Different layers that protect the MPO from high temperatures (ESA).





MPO with the radiator in the foreground (ESA).



Three antennas, low (LGA), medium gain (MGA) and high gain (HGA), the latter with a diameter of 1.1 meters, will be responsible for MPO communications with the Earth. MPO will transmit up to 1,550 GB of data per year. The orbiter carries four thrusters of 22 newton of thrust fed by hydrazine and MON (oxides of nitrogen), in addition to other four propellants of 5 newton based on hydrazine only. MPO carries 669 kg of hypergoals with the capacity to generate a total Delta-V of 1 km / s.



The different elements of BepiColombo with MMO in the MOSIF (JAXA).



The Japanese orbiter Mio (み お) or MMO has an octagonal shape and a mass of 275 kg, with dimensions of 1.8 x 1.2 meters. MMO carries five instruments: PWI (Mercury Plasma Wave Instrument), for the study of the radio waves and plasma of the magnetosphere, formed by four deployable antennas of 15 meters; MMO-MGF (Magnetic Field Investigation), two magnetometers located at the end of two deployable arms of 5 meters; MSASI (Mercury Sodium Atmosphere Spectral Imager), will measure the abundance of sodium in Mercury's exosphere; MDM (Mercury Dust Monitor), to analyze the interplanetary dust in Mercury's orbit, and finally, MPPE (Mercury Plasma Particle Experiment), which are seven sensors to study the plasma and energetic particles of the magnetosphere and their interaction with the solar wind. The MOSIF shield that protects the Japanese MMO probe has a mass of 125 kg and has eight layers of insulating material (one Nextel and seven titanium). Its dimensions are 1.8 meters high and 3 meters in diameter.



View of Mio / MMO (ESA).





Japanese orbiter Mio (MMO) (ESA).





MMO will study the sodium atmosphere around Mercury (JAXA).





Elements of Mio (MOS) (ESA).





Another view of MMO (JAXA).



Reaching Mercury's orbit will not be easy. BepiColombo needs to carry out maneuvers with a total Delta-V of 7 km / s. Of these, 4.2 km / s will be provided by the MTM module of ionic propulsion, while the rest will be achieved thanks to gravitational assistance maneuvers: one with the Earth, two with Venus and five with Mercury (not counting the orbital insertion). final). The MTM (Mercury Transfer Module), built by ESA, is the heaviest element of the vehicle, with 1872 kg. It incorporates four British-made QinetiQ T6 ion engines and 145 milinewtons of thrust. Its design is based on the T5 used in the GOCE mission. The motors can work in pairs or one by one and their power is 5 kilowatts each. They use 580 kg of xenon as propellant, which are stored in three tanks, so that the total Delta-V of the module is 5.4 km / s. The MTM has two solar panels of 40 square meters and 290 kg of mass that provide about 13 kilowatts. The wingspan of the solar panels reaches 30 meters once deployed. The MTM also carries 24 propellers of 10 newton based on 157 kg MMH and MON that will be in charge of the position control of the probe during the cruise (in fact only 12 are used at a given time and the rest are reserve) . If the MTM did not use ionic propulsion it would have to carry two additional tons of fuel. The MTM also has three M-CAM cameras to check the good condition of the elements of the vehicle during the trip to Mercury.



Ionic motors of the MTM (ESA).





BepiColombo trajectory (ESA).





BepiColombo flies over Venus (ESA).





The MTM is separated from the probe (ESA).



MTM will be separated from the rest of the ship on October 24, 2025 after 18 rounds around the Sun. Mercury's orbital insertion will take place on December 5, 2025 and will be carried out using the propulsion system of the MPO. The initial orbit will be 674 x 178,000 kilometers. The European MPO will be located in a polar scientific orbit of 480 x 1,500 kilometers with a period of 2.3 hours, while the Japanese MMO will be in a more eccentric polar orbit, 590 x 11,640 kilometers and a period of 9.3 hours . The MMO will be separated on December 20, 2025 and the MPO will reach its final orbit on March 14, 2026, after having released the MOSIF on December 26, 2025.



MPO and MMO orbit compared to MESSENGER (ESA).





MPO and MMO orbits (ESA).





MPO Orbit (ESA).



The name of the mission is in honor of the Italian scientist Giuseppe Colombo, better known as Bepi Colombo (in Italian Bepi is one of the diminutives of Giuseppe, as in Spanish Pepe de José, others are Beppe, Beppino, Peppe, Peppino or Peppo) . Colombo (1929-1984) described the gravitational assistance maneuvers for the study of Mercury taking into account that the period of rotation of the planet is in resonance 3: 2 with that of translation. These studies would later be applied in the design of the trajectory of NASA's Mariner 10, which visited Mercury three times between 1974 and 1975. In passing, the name reflects the important role that Italy has played in the development and financing of the mission.



BepiColombo (Aribus Defense and Space).





BepiColombo (ESA).



BepiColombo was born at the end of the last century as the definitive mission for the study of Mercury. In addition to the MPO and the MMO, he had to carry a surface probe, the MSE (Mercury Surface Element), which would be canceled due to its high budget. The collaboration with JAXA, which would be responsible for the MMO, served to keep the project alive. Initially it had to take off in 2013 by means of a Soyuz / Fregat rocket, but the participation of the ESA increased in size and it was decided to divide the MPO in the orbiter and the MTM, making the probe too heavy to be launched by the Soyuz. The mission has been criticized for its high cost - initially it should not exceed 665 million euros - and successive delays, especially when compared to the MESSENGER low cost probe from NASA. In 2009 it was finally approved for a launch in 2014.



Giuseppe Colombo (ESA).



BepiColombo is the most advanced and complex probe ever sent to Mercury. It is also one of the most expensive European missions. ESA and JAXA have spent 1,650 million euros in this mission, but several space agencies of European countries have financed the development of instruments out of pocket, so the total budget of the mission is around three billion euros. This figure places BepiColombo at the same cost level as NASA's Flagship probes. If we want to unravel the mysteries of Mercury it is clear that it will not be cheap for us.















Image of one of the MTM solar panels in space after deployment (ESA).





Countries participating in the project (ESA).













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