BepiColombo Spacecraft Captures Stunning Images of Mercury's North Pole
The European-Japanese spacecraft, BepiColombo, has successfully completed its sixth and final flyby of Mercury, obtaining remarkable close-up photographs of the planet's north pole. The mission, which began with the spacecraft's launch in 2018, saw it swoop as low as 183 miles above Mercury’s night side, allowing for the capture of detailed images of permanently shadowed craters and neighboring volcanic plains.
The European Space Agency has released these striking images, showcasing Mercury, which is the smallest and innermost planet in our solar system. Among the highlights is the largest impact crater on the planet, spanning over 930 miles. This flyby helps pave the way for BepiColombo to enter orbit around Mercury in late 2024, where it will operate two separate orbiters—one for Europe and one for Japan—designed to study Mercury's poles.
Named after the 20th-century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Colombo, who contributed to NASA's Mariner 10 mission, BepiColombo continues to expand our understanding of this enigmatic planet's geology and history.
