BepiColombo begins high-risk arrival at Mercury after eight-year journey

The European-Japanese BepiColombo mission begins a high-risk arrival phase at Mercury after an eight-year journey, with ESA warning of perilous operations ahead. The two-satellite probe faces extreme temperatures and intense solar radiation during orbital insertion. A critical first step occurs Thursday at 14:00 HB when the two attached probes separate from the transfer module that propelled them. ESA operations chief Ignacio Tanco likened this to a launch, but occurring near another planet, 63 million km from the Sun. Mercury experiences temperatures ranging from -180°C to 450°C, making the mission technically challenging. The separation marks the start of a multi-month arrival sequence before the probes can begin studying the least understood planet in our solar system.