BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

Palomar · 2004-11-12 08:34:39

http://www.mercurytoday.com/bepicolombo/]Click

*Dear European members of New Mars: I've not yet seen posts relative to this mission. Search indicates it's not been posted previously here either.

I'm going to feel free, then, to post it.

The mission is still in the planning stages, so the description in the article may change. The lander portion of the mission has been cancelled due to "budgetary constraints." (Darn. Where are those frickin' bored billionaries when you need them?).

Current planning is for a 2-component mission: "...the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO)."

The scientific objectives for the mission are to study Mercury's form, interior structure, geology, composition, and craters, origin, structure, and dynamics of its magnetic field, composition and dynamics of the vestigial atmosphere, test Einstein's theory of general relativity, search for asteroids sunward of Earth, and to generally study the origin and evolution of a planet close to a parent star.

*Okay, by "search for asteroids sunward of Earth," I hope they mean *Vulcanoids*. We already know there are asteroids in the inner Solar System.

Collaboration with Japanese Space Agency (ISAS) is being discussed; it might contribute a "Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter and exchange of hardware."

Lots of techy stuff. I don't see a launch date. "BepiColombo is named for Giusseppe (Bepi) Colombo (1920-1984), scientist, mathematician and engineer at the University of Padua, Italy."

They should have named it Voltaire.

Good luck with this! Now the space exploration community has two Mercury missions in the works. :up:

--Cindy

remcook · 2004-11-13 04:15:44

i had to look up vulcanoids...

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/m … 40126.html

But what I think they mean is, when Mercury is at opposition, it will look away from the Sun, to a region we can't see from Earth.

launch date is at the top of the article you posted (in boldface! ): 2012

from ESA itself:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120391_index_0 … x_0_m.html

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-11-13 21:10:46

2012..darn that !
It's a very long time away, however i think its great they will use two craft,
two craft is always good cos if one fails there is always back up and aswell data and pics can be collected much better
the NASA twin Rovers have been doing great work on mars
and the China-ESA Double Star project TC-1 and TC-2 ( Explorer ) has also been doing very well
BepiColombo should be good. Gone will be the days when we just launch single probes into space, soon we may be launching fleets of craft to explore outerspace

SpaceNut · 2004-11-13 21:11:55

It is also part of the Messenger mission to aid in the search for them. Other efforts have been tried but with no success in finding them.
Other search turned up this older article also.
http://www.space.com/news/chasing_asteroids_000124.html

"These objects are zipping along faster than any bullet on Earth."

Is that really possible?

Palomar · 2004-11-13 21:38:50

launch date is at the top of the article you posted (in boldface! ): 2012

:laugh: (At least I knew what Vulcanoids are ... yourself! :;): ) But I'd better go get my eyes examined, to have missed something like that (good grief). Thanks for pointing it out, remcook.

Quote
"These objects are zipping along faster than any bullet on Earth."
Is that really possible?

*Great article, SpaceNut. I posted one similar (but not the same) a while ago in one of the old "New Discoveries" threads, IIRC. To answer your question: I'll give scientists the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't make such a bold-faced statement without some data supporting it (and no, I certainly don't purport to speak for them :-\ ).

--Cindy

remcook · 2004-11-14 15:40:46

even rockets (or Earth orbiting satellites) go faster than bullets, so something that's passing Earth from a hyperbolic orbit (velocity is larger than the escape velocity) will definately go faster.

bullet speed: up to 1500 m/s:
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/Mar … eyra.shtml

Earth orbits: up to 8000 m/s:
http://www.marsacademy.com/traj/traj5.h … /traj5.htm

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-08-04 16:16:01

some more info on it

Launch methods are presently under study.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMLN5T1VED_index_0.html

scientific objectives
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=31350

Commodore · 2005-08-05 14:40:42

Would a radar sweep be an effective method of searching for these vulcanoids>

Or would the Sun completely scrabble any data?

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-08-05 16:01:17

Would a radar sweep be an effective method of searching for these vulcanoids>
Or would the Sun completely scrabble any data?

Some have though that there may be a Vulcanoid rock region inside the orbit of Mercury, although neither Mariner missions nor the NASA/ESA Soho have found anything

Gaia might be the mission for this it will measure Galaxies, extra-solar planets, do a 3d map of a billion suns and also Gaia is able to view the 'blind spot' found between the Sun and Earth's orbit and from Earth, we can only observe this area during the daytime one group known as the Atens could be dangerous, maybe it can also look for evidence of the existence these Vulcanoids.

http://www.astronomytoday.com/exploration/gaia.html
here is the new-mars Gaia thread
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1443

Bepi-Colombo looks like it may be a joint ESA and Japanese mission. Just as MESSENGER is arriving at Mercury, ESA's BepiColombo mission will be lifting off the launch pad.

Palomar · 2006-02-16 08:29:28

Update on BepiColombo

*2013 as prospective launch year.

Finland is really getting involved. Sounds good.

Hopefully some former funding issues have been resolved. Not that we can expect any of our wonderful zillionaire friends to help out with a science mission...(no $$$$ in it for them, no dice).

--Cindy

Rxke · 2006-02-17 02:52:51

Not that we can expect any of our wonderful zillionaire friends to help out with a science mission...(no $$$$ in it for them, no dice).

Offtopic: Ever heard of the Allen telescope? BiosphereII ? These things do happen, I seriously so do not like Bill Gates, but even he donates lotsa money on science (drugresearch)

Palomar · 2006-02-17 06:28:03

Offtopic: Ever heard of the Allen telescope? BiosphereII ?

*Yes. Allen Telescope Array -- another recent article at space.com. Can't resist giving them a poke, though. There isn't enough help for some projects which could benefit from generous private donations; more could be done/given (refer to 1st post in the thread).

As for Gates, I don't follow his philanthropy closely, but it's mostly for humanitarian causes...not space. Which is fine (humanitarian); just saying.

Back on topic...

--Cindy

EuroLauncher · 2007-02-25 06:41:08

News

The European Space Agency
Aviation Week & Space Technology
02/05/2007, page 17
The European Space Agency will split a €329-million ($424.4-million) prime contract for Bepi Colombo Mercury mission, the agency's next major science project, between Astrium and Alcatel Alenia Space. Astrium Germany will be overall prime contractor, with Astrium U.K. and Alcatel Alenia Italy as co-primes, says Jacques Louet, ESA's director of science projects. But Astrium Germany will shoulder the full program risk under a "political expedient" approved last week by ESA's industrial policy committee. The green light for the €665-million mission is to be given by ESA's science program board later this month, along with a call for ideas for the next round of science missions planned for 2015-25. Three large (€650-million) and three medium (€300-million) missions are expected to be proposed for the tender, expected to be realized in October. The first, a medium mission, would be launched around 2017. To ensure approval, Louet said, science planners will propose €200 million in cuts through 2015. The bulk of the savings--€110 million--will come by offering to merge ESA's Solar Orbiter mission with NASA's four-satellite Sentinel project, eliminating one Sentinel and carrying the four remaining units aloft on the same launcher, with shared instrument packages.

cIclops · 2007-02-25 14:46:50

Good to see ESA going ahead with more science missions, hopefully they will choose some original projects this time.

EuroLauncher · 2007-10-18 06:45:08

Cool animations: Critical operations for BepiColombo

BepiColombo - ESA's first mission to Mercury - will be conducted in cooperation with JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and is scheduled for launch later in 2013. Scroll down to view a series of highly detailed, realistic animations showing the critical operational phases.

The mission will consist of two separate spacecraft: ESA is building the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), and the Japanese space agency JAXA will contribute the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). MPO mission operations will be controlled from ESOC, the European Space Operations Centre, while MMO operations will be controlled from the Sagamihara Space Operation Center, near Tokyo.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Operations/ … S7F_0.html

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2008-01-12 00:07:10

"ESA PR 3-2008. The European Space Agency and Astrium jointly invite the media to attend a press conference on the occasion of the industrial contract signature of BepiColombo, the first European mission to Mercury. The event will be held at Astrium Friedrichshafen on 18 January 2008."
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM7C83MDAF_index_0.html

SpaceNut · 2016-07-24 17:55:40

I knew the name of the mission was familar and that we had a topic for it....
Fixed artifacts and minor shifting.....

BepiColombo Mission to Mercury on Track for April 2018 Launch

"BepiColombo is on track for launch in 2018. At the moment we are preparing for some final acceptance tests. On our 'Mercury Transport Module' (MTM) we need to finish the installation of some late deliveries and then the module has to undergo a thermal verification and thermal balance test. This is to proof that the thermal shielding of this spacecraft module works as predicted by the models," Johannes Benkhoff, BepiColombo project scientist at ESA, told Astrowatch.net.
Similar tests have been already conducted for all the other modules of BepiColombo. After the MTM thermal test the engineers will have to perform a mechanical verification test of all the units together. This is to proof that BepiColombo will be able to survive the vibrations during the launch of the spacecraft. The vibration test is foreseen to be performed in early 2017.
After all these tests, BepiColombo will be shipped to the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, from where it will be launched in April 2018.

This is a 2 for 1 mission launch....

The mission will consist of two separate spacecraft that will orbit the small rocky planet. ESA developed the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), and JAXA provided the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). MPO will study the surface and internal composition of the planet, while the MMO will study Mercury's magnetosphere.
BepiColombo will be launched by ESA's Ariane 5 booster on a direct escape trajectory to Venus. During its journey to the solar system's smallest planet it perform two gravity assists of Venus and four gravity assists of Mercury. The mission is expected to arrive at Mercury in December 2024 and to operate until May 2026.

SpaceNut · 2017-07-08 09:29:12

This joint European-Japanese venture has been in development for nearly two decades, but should finally get to the launch pad in 15 months' time.
Europe's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO)

BepiColombo to Uncover Mercury's Mysteries

BepiColombo: Joint Mercury mission ready for 'pizza oven'

ESA’s BepiColombo Mercury mission thrives on ambition and co-operation

SpaceNut · 2018-11-03 08:10:45

Wow topic is really old and goes to show just how long mission hardware can take to be made...

BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to the planet Mercury. The mission comprises two satellites launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Mio. The mission will perform a comprehensive study of Mercury, including characterization of its magnetic field, magnetosphere, and both interior and surface structure.
It was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on 20 October 2018 at 01:45 UTC, with an arrival at Mercury planned for December 2025, after a flyby of Earth, two flybys of Venus, and six flybys of Mercury.
The mission was approved in November 2009, after years in proposal and planning as part of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000+ programme; it is the last mission of the programme to be launched.

BepiColombo set to explore our smallest, wrinkliest planet

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-06-10 03:57:40

Solar Mission Reveals New Details About Venus’ Unusual Magnetic Field
https://www.jhuapl.edu/NewsStory/210603 … netosphere

ESA’s Solar Orbiter and the ESA-Jaxa BepiColombo spacecraft are conducting 18 flyby manoeuvres as part of their missions to the Sun and Mercury, respectively.
https://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/202 … space-ody/

By exploring how the magnetic field of our own innermost world, Mercury, interacts with the Sun’s intense solar wind with Mio on board BepiColombo, we can get a real look at what might be happening to our nearest exoplanet
https://twitter.com/ISAS_JAXA_EN/status … 3629764614

Mercury-bound spacecraft gets an assist from Venus
https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/10/15/m … rom-venus/

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-08-16 15:03:21

Sights and sounds of a Venus flyby

https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Sigh … y_999.html

SpaceNut · 2021-10-02 20:50:05

BepiColombo: Europe's mission to Mercury returns first pictures

13188135313fd9d917045d106f34a18d

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-01-11 15:54:09

Mercury project: BepiColombo
http://www.stp.isas.jaxa.jp/mercury/FAQ.html

BepiColombo's journey to Mercury relies on ion power
https://newatlas.com/bepicolombo-mercur … ter/56878/

4.5 kW Kaufman-type ion thrusters that use xenon gas as a propellant. Each thruster has an electrically-charged grid powered by a solar panel that ionizes and accelerates the xenon atoms until they shoot out at a speed of over 50 km/s (112,000 mph).
The thrust isn't much – only about 145 mN – but each has a specific impulse of around 4,000 seconds

I know there were a few fringe topics on newmars like Terraform Mercury or Colonization With Water on Mercury...maybe this could also go into the 'Solar...best solution for Mars.' topic

Russian company develops method for effective transfer of solar energy to Earth
https://www.solardaily.com/reports/Russ … h_999.html
Despite being one of the easiest and most accessible methods of gathering renewable energy, solar panels are unable to perform well in many spots of the world and in non-ideal weather conditions. In space, however, the effectiveness of solar panels increases significantly, prompting their wide use to power satellites and other spacecraft.
Russian Space Systems, a subsidiary of the Russian state company Roscosmos, has developed a project of an advanced space power plant capable of gathering solar energy and transmitting it to Earth.
"The new device can ensure the regular supply of green energy to hard-to-reach areas of the Earth, such as islands, mountains and territories in the north, regardless of weather conditions and time of day. It can also allow transferring energy to other spacecraft - for 'scheduled recharging' and in case of emergency", Russian Space Systems said in a statement.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-01-11 16:00:53)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-08-09 11:15:44

Conversation with planetary scientist about the recent flyby of Mercury by BepiColombo and the science which can be executed
WeMartians Podcast

https://wemartians.com/podcasts/125-spi … lina-hadid

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2004-11-12 08:34:39

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#2 2004-11-13 04:15:44

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#3 2004-11-13 21:10:46

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#4 2004-11-13 21:11:55

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#5 2004-11-13 21:38:50

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#6 2004-11-14 15:40:46

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#7 2005-08-04 16:16:01

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#8 2005-08-05 14:40:42

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#9 2005-08-05 16:01:17

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#10 2006-02-16 08:29:28

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#11 2006-02-17 02:52:51

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#12 2006-02-17 06:28:03

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#13 2007-02-25 06:41:08

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#14 2007-02-25 14:46:50

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#15 2007-10-18 06:45:08

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#16 2008-01-12 00:07:10

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#17 2016-07-24 17:55:40

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#18 2017-07-08 09:29:12

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#19 2018-11-03 08:10:45

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#20 2021-06-10 03:57:40

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#21 2021-08-16 15:03:21

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#22 2021-10-02 20:50:05

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#23 2022-01-11 15:54:09

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

#24 2022-08-09 11:15:44

Re: BepiColombo - ESA/JAXA Mercury Orbiters

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