Wow – In the images obtained by the BepiColombo mission during a flyby of Mercury and published by the ESA this Thursday, we can see the craters of the north pole of the small planet as well as traces of its volcanic activity
The European Space Agency (ESA) unveiled this Thursday, during its press conference at the start of the year, the latest images from the BepiColombo mission, which flew very closely over Mercury, which is still little studied.
This flyby, just 295 kilometers above the planet’s north pole – closer than the ISS, which orbits around 400 kilometers above Earth – is the sixth and final of the mission. It is part of the gravitational assistance maneuver which should allow the craft to enter orbit around Mercury at the end of 2026.
Diving in the craters of Mercury
On the images captured by the M-CAMs cameras on board BepiColombo, we can see Mercury’s craters very closely, particularly those located at the day-night limit of the planet. “The machine had the unique opportunity to see inside the craters permanently plunged into shadow, at the north pole,” details the ESA in its press release (in English).
These craters(…) Read more on 20minutes
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