The BepiColombo spacecraft is about to make its first Mercury fly-by

By Will Gater

The European and Japanese mission BepiColombo will make a fly-by of the solar system’s innermost world next month, diving to just 200 kilometres above the surface of sun-scorched Mercury.

The spacecraft, which is specially engineered to withstand the high temperatures near our star, will collect data and images during the pass, making its closest approach to Mercury – known as periherm – on 1 October.

This will be “the first of six fly-bys of Mercury aimed at reducing BepiColombo’s velocity”, says Elsa Montagnon …