BepiColombo begins final approach to Mercury after eight-year journey

The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft has begun its high-risk final approach to Mercury after an eight-year journey, marking the start of its unprecedented exploration of the solar system's smallest planet. Launched in October 2018, the four-tonne craft traveled over 10 billion kilometers with nine planetary flybys to adjust its trajectory. Last Thursday, it successfully completed a crucial step by separating its two probes from the transfer module that had propelled them. The probes will enter Mercury's orbit on November 21, with a delicate separation scheduled for December 9-10. From April 2027, ESA's MPO will study the planet from just 480 kilometers away, while JAXA's Mio will examine its magnetic field from an elliptical orbit extending to 11,000 kilometers.